THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

Ex  Libris 

Katharine  F»  Richmond 

and 
Henry  C.  Fall 


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f,  > 


WAYSIDE  JOTTINGS 


OR 


RAMBLES    AROUND    THE    OLD    TOWN    OF 

CONCORD,   NEW   HAMPSHIRE, 

AND  ITS  SUBURBS 


BY 


HOWARD  M.  COOK 


CONCORD,  N.  H. 

EDSON  C.  EASTMAN 

1910 


To 

My  THREE  GRANDCHILDREN,   DORIS   G.   COOK, 

MARION   H.   COOK,   AND  FRED  L.  COOK, 

THIS   VOLUME  is   AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


1066722 


PREFACE 


The  reason  for  the  writing  and  publication  of 
THE  WAYSIDE  JOTTINGS  may  be  told  in  a  few  words. 
I  had  been  reading  Charles  W.  Brewster's  "Ram- 
bles About  Portsmouth,"  published  first  in  the 
Portsmouth  Journal,  of  which  he  was  the  editor, 
and  republished  in  a  book  form.  The  thought  oc- 
curred to  me  that  a  series  of  local  sketches  of  Con- 
cord and  its  suburbs  might  be  of  interest.  I  had 
been  a  resident  of  Concord  for  about  fifty  years, 
and  during  that  time  had  taken  a  good  many  ram- 
bles around  the  old  town.  I  was  also  somewhat 
familiar  with  its  history. 

Accordingly  I  began  this  series  of  local  sketches 
in  the  Concord  Evening  Monitor  in  the  fall  of  1907, 
and  continued  the  writing  of  them  till  the  spring 
of  1909.  Some  of  the  miscellaneous  sketches  were 
published  in  the  Concord  Daily  Patriot,  till  thirty- 
five  of  them  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  in 
these  local  newspapers.  I  have  been  interested  in 
writing  them  and  their  publication  in  book  form 
has  been  a  labor  of  love,  as  whatever  returns  are 
received  over  and  above  the  cost  of  publication  will 
be  devoted  for  the  benefit  of  my  three  grandchil- 
dren, whose  names  appear  in  the  dedication. 

I  am  under  especial  obligations  to  some  of  the 
older  residents  of  Concord  for  their  appreciation  of 
the  "Jottings"  and  for  their  testimonials  as  to  its 


vi  Preface 

merits,  which  were  of  material  assistance  in  secur- 
ing advance  subscriptions  enough  to  defray  the  cost 
of  publication. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  Henry  McFarland,  the 
author  of  the  interesting  volume,  "Sixty  Years  in 
Concord  and  Elsewhere,"  for  advice,  and  who 
kindly  offered  to  make  any  needed  corrections  in 
the  copy.  I  got  a  good  deal  of  historical  informa- 
tion from  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bouton  's  ' '  History  of  Con- 
cord," and  also  from  the  "New  History  of  Con- 
cord," compiled  by  the  History  Commission. 

I  hope  that  the  readers  of  this  volume  will  be 
interested  in  its  perusal  and  will  agree  with  the 
opinion  of  Arthur  H.  Chase,  librarian  of  the  state 
library,  as  given  in  his  testimonial:  "The  state 
library  has  subscribed  for  THE  WAYSIDE  JOTTINGS 
because  it  believes  the  series  of  local  sketches  to  be 
of  important  and  reference  value. ' ' 

HOWAKD  M.  COOK. 


CONTENTS 


I. 

First  ramble  about  Concord  commences  at  the 
corner  of  South  Main  and  Pleasant  Streets. — Pleas- 
ant Street  to  South  Street. — Through  this  street  to 
Broadway  and  Rollins'  Park. 

II. 

Rollins'  Park  to  Wheeler's  Corner,  through 
South  Street  to  Bow  Mills. — Turkey  River. — Na- 
thaniel H.  Carter's  tribute  to  it. — His  poem,  "To 
My  Native  Stream." 

III. 

Bow  Mills  to  "Portsmouth"  bridge.— Whittier's 
tribute  to  the  Merrimack  in  his  poem,  "Our 
River."— Through  Hall  Street  to  the  old  Rolfe 
mansion. — The  home  of  Benjamin  Thompson,  af- 
terwards known  as  Count  Rumford. 

IV. 

Butters'  Tavern,  an  old-time  hostlery. — Ramble 
along  the  west  side  of  South  Main  Street. — The  old 
residents  on  the  line  of  this  street  of  fifty  or  more 
years  ago. — Arrival  at  the  starting  point  of  our 
first  ramble. 

V. 

Plan  of  Main  Street  as  it  appeared  in  1827. — 
Main  Street  formally  laid  out  in  1785. — Pleasant 


viii  Contents 

Street  formerly  known  as  the  "Hopkinton  Road." 
— The  visit  of  George  Thompson  and  John  G. 
Whittier  to  town  in  1835. — Their  mobbing.— 
"Pleasant  View,"  the  home  at  this  time  of  Mary 
Baker  G.  Eddy. 

VI. 

Garrisons  built  in  the  town  of  Rumf ord  in  1733- 
'46. — Number  4  garrison  located  on  the  line  of 
Pleasant  Street  at  Millville. — The  sites  of  six  other 
garrisons. 

VII. 

The  Rumf  ord  massacre  on  the  "Hopkinton 
Road"  in  1746.— The  dedication  of  the  Bradley 
monument  in  1837. — St.  Paul's  School  and  the  first 
rector,  Dr.  Henry  E.  Coit. 

VIII. 

Changes  in  North  Main  Street  in  fifty  years. — 
The  conflagration  of  August,  1851. — The  remodeled 
court  house. — The  site  of  the  first  log  meeting 
house. — The  North  Church. — Dr.  Nathaniel  Bou- 
ton,  its  fourth  pastor. — The  destruction  by  fire  of 
the  "Old  North"  Church  in  1870. 

IX. 

The  Old  North  Cemetery. — Site  selected  in 
1730. — Blossom  Hill  Cemetery. — Consecrated  July 
13,  1870. — Exercises  at  the  consecration. 

X. 

East  side  of  South  Main  Street. — The  change  in 
its  appearance  in  fifty  years. — Some  of  the  old  resi- 
dents. 


Contents  ix 

XI. 

The  first  religious  service  in  Concord  Sunday, 
May  15,  1726. — The  battle  between  the  Penacooks 
and  Mohawks  on  "Sugar  Ball"  bluff.— The  East 
Concord  Congregational  Church. — SewalTs  Falls. 
— Great  expectations  of  East  Concord  as  a  manu- 
facturing center. — "Elmcroft"  built  in  1755. 

XII. 

East  Concord  again. — "The  Port"  its  original 
name. — Scotch-Irish  the  first  settlers. — The  old 
ferries  on  the  Merrimack. — The  first  bridge  that 
spanned  the  river  erected  in  1795. 

XIII. 

The  primitive  way  of  worship  in  Concord. — 
The  formation  of  the  West  Concord  Church  in 
1832. — Rev.  Asa  P.  Tenney  its  first  minister. — 
"Rock-Ribbed"  Rattlesnake  Hill. 

XIV. 

Penacook. — The  ' '  Burrough. ' ' — Joseph  Walker 
the  first  settler. — The  first  woolen  mill  built  by 
Richard  Kimball  and  Jeremiah  Abbott. 

XV. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  men  enlisted  in  the  Civil 
War  from  Penacook. — The  death  of  Maj.  William 
Brown  at  Fort  Steadman,  Va. — The  Baptist 
Church  dedicated  in  1858. — The  Penacook  House 
built  in  1787. — The  Bonney  brothers. — Dustin's 
Island. — Dedication  of  the  monument  to  Hannah 
Dustin  June  17,  1874. 


x  Contents 

XVI. 

On  the  line  of  the  "Old  Hopkinton  Road."— 
Dimond  Hill. — Isaac  N.  Abbott's  home. — The  birth- 
place of  Grace  Fletcher  Webster. — The  Kimball 
garrison. 

XVII. 

Hopkinton  village. — The  old  residents  of  the  vil- 
lage in  the  forties. — Once  the  temporary  capital  of 
New  Hampshire. — The  New  Hampshire  Antiqua- 
rian Society. 

XVIII. 

St.  Andrew's  Episcopal  Church  in  Hopkinton 
village.— Erected  in  1827-'28.  The  Lafayette  elm. 
— The  general's  visit  to  Hopkinton  in  1825. 

XIX. 

The  execution  of  Abraham  Prescott  January  6, 
1837,  at  Hopkinton  village. — Probably  the  cause 
of  the  erection  of  the  New  Hampshire  State  Hos- 
pital at  Concord. — The  old  Fletcher  house. 

XX. 

Bow,  one  of  the  hill  towns  of  Merrimack  County. 
—"Meeting-House  HilL"— Wood  Hill  and  the  Old 
Home  Day  celebration  held  in  Hammond's  grove 
on  its  summit. 

XXI. 

On  the  road  to  Dunbarton. — The  Oliver  Bailey 
farm. — The  birthplace  of  Henry  M.  Putney. — Dun- 
barton  Center,  "a  city  set  on  a  hill." — The  old 
town  house. — Some  teachers  in  the  old-time  schools. 


Contents  xi 

XXII. 

Rattlesnake  Hill  in  the  West  Concord  district. — 
Interesting  facts  from  the  "New  History  of  Con- 
cord" in  regard  to  the  development  of  the  granite 
industry. 

XXIII. 

Lake  Penacook,  a  gem  in  the  crown  of  Concord. — 
The  evolution  in  the  methods  of  supplying  water 
for  domestic  uses. — The  history  of  the  Concord 
water  works. 

XXIV. 

Concord's  shade  trees. — Rev.  Timothy  Walker 
planted  the  first  North  End  elms  in  1764.— The 
"Webster-Coffin  Elm"  planted  in  1782.— Other 
fine  elms. — The  rock  maples. — The  Washington 
oak  on  Stickney  Hill. 

XXV. 

The  old-time  stores  and  merchants  of  Concord. — 
The  modern  way  of  displaying  goods. — W.  W. 
Easterbrook — Old-time  merchants. 

XXVI. 

C.  C.  Webster,  the  veteran  grocer. — Webster  & 
Tuttle  the  first  firm  to  deliver  groceries. — Main 
Street  in  the  early  fifties  and  the  merchants  at 

that  time. 

XXVII. 

Concord  not  famed  as  a  manufacturing  center. — 
A  pleasant  rural  city. — A  large  amount  of  mental 
suffering  within  its  borders  in  hospital  and  prison. 
— What  the  railroads  have  done  for  Concord. 


MI  Contents 

i 

XXVIII. 

Up  and  down  the  Merrimack  in  the  old  boating 
days. — The  era  of  the  canal  boat. — The  Merrimack 
in  the  days  of  inland  navigation. — The  method  of 
the  propulsion  of  the  boats. 

XXIX. 

The  logging  days  on  the  Merrimack. — Anecdote 
of  Rev.  Augustus  Woodbury. — Amoskeag  Falls,  the 
favorite  resort  of  the  Indians. — Gen.  John  Stark. 

XXX. 

A  chat  with  the  Webster  Elm.— Set  out  in  1782 
by  the  Coffin  brothers. — Reminiscences  of  the  olden 
time  as  given  by  the  elm. — The  burning  of  the  Old 
North  Church  in  1870. 

XXXI. 

A  trip  to  Manchester  on  the  electrics. — Pembroke 
Street. — Pembroke  granted  to  the  heirs  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Lovewell  expedition. — The  Blanchard 
Academy  and  the  gymnasium. 

XXXII. 

Rev.  Abraham  Burnham,  an  old-time  minister  of 
Pembroke. — Reminiscences  of  him  by  a  student  at 
Blanchard  Academy.  Hooksett  and  its  odd  name. 
— Bonney's  tavern. — Down  the  turnpike  to  Man- 
chester.— The  new  North  End  in  the  Queen  City. 

XXXIII. 

Gov.  Frank  W.  Rollins'  recollections  of  the 
North  End. — He  speaks  of  it  as  he  remembered  it 
when  a  boy. — Fort  Eddy  and  the  Indian  associ- 
ations. 


Contents  xiii 

XXXIV. 

Governor  Rollins'  reminiscences  continued. — A 
sketch  of  those  who  lived  at  the  North  End. 

XXXV. 

Governor  Rollins'  reminiscences  concluded. — 
The  burning  of  the  North  Church.  The  days  of 
the  old  hand-engines. — The  Old  North  when  occu- 
pied as  the  Methodist  Institute. 

XXXVI. 

The  "Plains." — Formerly  a  great  place  for  for- 
est fires. — The  Merrimack  Agricultural  Society 
fair  ground. — The  "glacial  epoch." — The  camp- 
ground of  the  State  Guard. 

XXXVII. 

Conclusion  of  the  "Jottings." — The  physical 
characteristics  of  Concord. — A  goodly  heritage  for 
the  dwellers  in  it. — A  law-abiding  city. — Its  edu- 
cational privileges. — The  early  settlers,  religious 
men  and  women. — What  has  the  future  in  store  for 
our  rural  city  on  the  banks  of  the  Merrimack  ? 


WAYSIDE  JOTTINGS 


WAYSIDE  JOTTINGS 


I. 

When  the  late  Charles  W.  Brewster  was  editor 
of  the  Portsmouth  Journal,  he  published  in  that 
paper  a  series  of  local  sketches,  entitled,  "Rambles 
About  Portsmouth. ' '  They  were  largely  of  an  his- 
torical character,  were  afterwards  published  in  two 
volumes  and  were  highly  interesting.  They  were 
authority  on  local  historical  matters,  and  it  is  per- 
haps due  to  this  fact  that  no  regular  history  of 
Portsmouth  has  ever  been  written.  Though  Con- 
cord is  not  so  rich  in  historical  associations  as  Old 
Strawberry  Bank,  yet  there  are  a  number  of  ram- 
bles that  one  can  take  around  the  city  that  will 
bring  to  mind  matters  and  events  in  Concord's  his- 
tory that  would  be  interesting  and  profitable  to 
consider. 

For  instance :  Our  first  ramble  might  be  laid  out 
so  as  to  include  Pleasant  Street  to  South  Street ; 
down  South  Street  to  Broadway;  down  Broadway, 
through  Rollins'  Park,  to  Rockingham  Street; 
thence  to  Wheeler's  Corner  at  the  junction  of 
South  Street  and  the  Iron  Works  Road ;  then  along 
South  Street  to  Bow  Mills;  thence  by  the  road  to 
Bow  Crossing  and  Bow  Junction ;  returning  by  the 


4  Wayside    Jottings 

way  of  Hall,  Water  and  South  Main  Streets  to  our 
point  of  starting,  making  a  ramble  of  probably  six 
or  eight  miles.  It  carries  one  a  little  way  out  of 
Concord  into  the  famous  town  of  Bow,  which  in  the 
days  of  Timothy  Walker,  claimed  jurisdiction  over 
the  most  of  Concord,  then  the  town  of  Rumford, 
and  but  for  Mr.  Walker  going  to  England  and 
successfully  contending  against  this  claim,  we 
might  now  be  inhabitants  of  Bow,  and  that  town 
the  capital  of  New  Hampshire. 

Our  ramble,  then,  commences  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  South  Main  and  Pleasant  Streets,  where 
the  Acquilla  building  now  stands.  Memory  goes 
back  to  the  time  when  the  first  South  Church  stood 
upon  this  site.  The  writer  attended  the  last  ser- 
vice held  in  this  church,  on  a  Sunday  evening  in 
the  summer  of  the  year  1859.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Trask, 
familiarly  known  as  "Anti-Tobacco  Trask,"  held 
forth  at  that  time  against  the  use  of  the  weed. 
Whether  his  fervid  denunciations  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  destruction  of  the  church,  the  writer  is 
not  prepared  to  state,  but  this  church  on  that  night 
was  numbered  with  the  five  churches  of  Concord 
that  from  time  to  time  went  up  in  flame  and  smoke, 
— the  others  being  the  old  North,  the  new  North 
and  the  First  and  Second  Unitarian  churches.  No 
doubt  the  site  of  the  new  South  Church,  on  Pleas- 
ant Street,  is  a  more  desirable  one ;  but  an  historic 
residence  was  thence  removed,  where  Col.  William 
A.  Kent  lived  for  so  many  years ;  and  under  whose 
roof  Lafayette  was  entertained  on  his  visit  to  this 


Wayside   Jottings  5 

country ;  where  Daniel  Webster  often  stopped,  and 
where  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  was  married. 

The  site  of  the  Pleasant  Street  Baptist  Church 
was  once  occupied  as  the  residence  of  Hon.  Thomas 
W.  Thompson,  once  a  member  of  Congress  from 
this  state.  This  house  was  moved  a  short  distance 
on  to  Elm  Street,  in  the  rear  of  this  church,  and 
made  over  into  tenements,  as  the  Kent  house  was 
moved  to  South  Spring  Street,  and  is  now  the  home 
of  W.  A.  Stone,  Jr.  Near  the  corner  of  Pleasant 
and  South  Streets  was  the  home  of  Gov.  Walter 
Harriman,  who  was  one  of  the  best  stump 
speakers  that  the  writer  remembers  of  hearing  in 
the  old-time  political  campaigns  in  New  Hampshire. 
The  next  house  south,  now  the  home  of  John  P. 
Nutter,  was  formerly  the  residence  of  Judge 
Matthew  Harvey,  who  was  also  a  governor  of  New 
Hampshire  way  back  in  the  thirties.  South  Street 
is  of  a  generous  width  and  is  lined  for  the  most 
part  with  a  good  class  of  houses.  Amongst  the 
earliest  to  be  erected,  at  the  north  end  of  the  street, 
were  the  houses  that  were  owned  and  occupied  by 
Col.  Ephraim  Hutchins,  one  of  Concord's  post- 
masters, now  owned  by  Harry  G.  Emmons;  the 
house  occupied  by  Daniel  H.  Fletcher,  one  of  Con- 
cord's old-time  builders,  now  owned  by  Nathaniel 
E.  Martin;  the  house  occupied  by  Gov.  Nathaniel 
B.  Baker,  another  of  New  Hampshire's  governors, 
now  owned  by  Mrs.  Alonzo  Downing.  Farther 
along  the  street,  G.  D.  Huntley  and  W.  E.  Emer- 
son have  erected  good-looking  and  comfortable 


6  Wayside   Jottings 

homes;  Norris  A.  Dunklee  and  Hiram  0.  Marsh 
added  to  the  attraction  of  the  street  in  the  erection 
of  their  substantial  homes ;  and  now  W.  M.  Cressy, 
the  playwright,  has  added  to  these  by  the  erection 
of  a  fine  residence  on  the  corner  of  South  and 
Lincoln  Streets. 

It  strikes  the  writer  that  sometime  in  the  near 
or  remote  future  the  locality  at  the  intersection  of 
South,  Downing,  West,  Broadway,  and  Clinton 
Streets,  known  aforetime  as  "Noyes'  Corner,"  will 
be  one  of  the  business  centers  of  Concord.  Most 
of  the  travel  that  comes  from  the  towns  of  Bow, 
Dunbarton  and  Weare  passes  through  this  inter- 
section of  streets.  Recently,  a  new  grocery  store 
has  been  built  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  West 
Streets,  and  Homer  Van  Cor  has  filled  it  with  a 
stock  of  goods.  In  the  triangular  plot  of  land, 
bounded  by  Broadway,  West  and  South  Streets,  is 
a  fine  location  for  a  small  park,  which  might  be  a 
counterpart  of  that  at  the  North  End,  at  the  junc- 
tion of  North  State  and  Penacook  Streets.  It 
would  be  also  an  appropriate  place  for  the  Rogers 
fountain,  that  we  used  to  hear  about  on  paper,  but 
which  has  not  as  yet  taken  on  a  material  form. 

Broadway  is  rightly  named  and  is  lined  for  a 
portion  of  its  way  with  comfortable  homes.  Why 
more  of  the  vacant  lots,  near  the  lower  end  of  this 
street,  have  not  been  built  upon,  the  writer  is  not 
prepared  to  answer.  The  streets  on  the  west  of 
it  are  fairly  well  occupied  with  dwellings.  Its 
nearness  to  the  Boston  &  Maine  railroad  shops 


Kntraiu'o  to  Rollins  I'ark 


Kntranee  to  White  Park 


Wayside   Jottings  7 

makes  this  section  of  the  city  a  desirable  one  for 
homes  for  the  workmen.  Though  the  electric  line 
furnishes  a  convenient  means  of  getting  up  town, 
the  laying  of  the  track  through  South  Street  and 
Broadway  has  not  improved  them  for  purposes  of 
driving. 

Rollins  Park  is  one  of  the  prettiest  gems  in  the 
crown  of  Concord,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  it  will 
be  so  continued  in  the  future  annals  of  the  city. 
How  a  lumberman  would  like  to  set  a  steam  saw- 
mill in  the  grove  and  thus  convert  the  noble  pines 
into  lumber,  and  make  a  howling  wilderness  of  one 
of  "God's  first  temples!"  Some  of  these  pines 
must  be  more  than  a  century  in  age,  and  remind 
one  of  the  time  when  all  over  the  state  old-growth 
pine  was  about  the  only  kind  of  a  tree  that  was 
fit  to  be  used  for  lumber.  But  here  on  one  of  the 
seats  is  a  good  place  to  rest,  as  it  were,  in  the  first 
leg  of  our  ramble,  and  to  call  to  mind,  as  probably 
others  have  done  who  have  come  here  for  a  restful 
time,  those  beautiful  lines  of  Longfellow: 

If  thou  art  worn  and  hard  beset 

With  trials  that  thou  would'st  forget; 

If  thou  would'st  read  a  lesson  that  will  keep 

Thy  heart  from  fainting,  and  thy  soul  from  sleep, 

Go  to  the  hills  and  groves,  no  tears 

Dim  the  sweet  look  that  Nature  wears. 


8  Wayside   Jottings 

II. 

Going  on  the  second  leg  of  our  ramble  takes  us 
along  the  old  highway  that  lies  on  the  west  of 
Rollins'  Park  running  from  South  Street  to  Rock- 
ingham  Street.  It  takes  us  by  the  smaller  park 
where  the  young  deer  are  having  the  time  of  their 
lives,  the  high  wire  fence  that  surrounds  the  park, 
through  whose  valley  runs  Bow  Brook,  being  a 
complete  protection  from  the  dogs  and  the  hunters 
in  the  open  season.  A  short  distance  along  Rock- 
ingham  Street  brings  us  to  Wheeler's  Corner,  which 
takes  its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  family  of 
Wheelers,  grandfather,  father  and  grandson,  we 
believe,  were  born  or  have  lived  in  the  old  one- 
story  house,  probably  all  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  in  age,  that  stands  at  the  junction  of  South 
and  Rockingham  Streets  and  the  Iron  Works  Road, 
this  last  name  being  given  to  this  road  from  the 
fact  that,  years  ago,  iron  ore,  dug  elsewhere,  was 
made  into  pig  iron  at  the  mill  near  the  bridge  that 
spans  Turkey  River. 

Giles  Wheeler,  a  descendant  of  the  family  from 
which  this  corner  takes  its  name,  lives  in  a  neat 
cottage  across  the  street  from  the  old  Wheeler 
house,  which  was  his  birthplace.  Mr.  Wheeler,  in 
his  profession  of  architect,  has  done  a  good  work 
for  Concord  in  designing  and  superintending  the 
erection  of  structures  of  a  private  and  public  char- 
acter during  the  last  forty  years.  Amongst  the 
more  prominent  of  the  public  buildings  of  which  he 


Wayside   Jottings  9 

superintended  the  erection  were  the  government 
building,  the  state  library  and  the  high  school 
building  on  School  Street.  Though  Mr.  Wheeler 
is  along  in  years,  he  is  not  laid  on  the  shelf  by  any 
means,  but  is  interested  in  the  furtherance  of  the 
interests  of  the  City  of  Concord. 

From  Wheeler's  Corner  to  Bow  Mills,  we  pass 
by  a  succession  of  comfortable  dwellings,  the  most 
of  them  being  on  small  farms  devoted  to  the  raising 
of  garden  truck.  The  soil  of  these  farms  is  light, 
similar  in  its  character  to  that  on  the  ''Plains," 
over  the  river.  Timothy  Hammond,  near  the  lower 
end  of  the  street,  formerly  a  resident  of  Bow,  has 
for  some  years  been  a  successful  raiser  of  carrots 
and  onioYis  mainly,  for  which  he  finds  a  ready  sale. 
Ex-Congressman  Baker  resides  with  his  brother, 
John  B.  Baker,  on  this  street,  just  over  the  division 
line  in  Bow. 

Bow  is  unique  among  the  other  towns  in  Merri- 
mack  County,  at  least,  in  that  there  is  nothing 
within  its  borders  that  can  be  called  a  village.  At 
Bow  Center  is  a  Baptist  Church,  the  town  house  and 
perhaps  a  half  dozen  dwelling  houses.  At  Bow 
Mills  there  is  a  somewhat  larger  collection  of  dwell- 
ings and  a  store,  and  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  hall.  The  mill 
privileges  here  are  good,  and  Mark  Upton  carries 
on  quite  a  business  at  his  sawmill  and  shingle  mill. 
The  old  brick  grist-mill  has  ground  its  last  grist, 
and  its  water  wheel  has  made  its  last  revolution. 
It  formerly  was  a  place  where  a  good  share  of  the 
grain  from  Concord  and  surrounding  towns  was 


10  Wayside   Jottings 

ground,  but  other  mills  elsewhere  now  are  doing  its 
work.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many 
thousand  bushels  of  grain  have  been  ground  in  this 
old  mill,  between  its  upper  and  nether  mill-stones, 
and  so  converted  into  food  for  man  and  beast. 

Turkey  River,  in  some  respects,  is  a  peculiar 
stream;  it  also  has  a  peculiar  as  well  as  homely 
name.  As  Nathanial  H.  Carter  says  in  his  poem, 
"To  My  Native  Stream": 

What  though  obscure  thy  woody  source, 
What  though  unsung  thy  humble  course; 
What  if  no  lofty  classic  name 
Gives  to  thy  peaceful  waters  fame, 
Still  can  thy  rural  haunts  impart 
A  solace  to  this  saddened  heart. 

Though  if  its  name  is  not  a  "lofty  classic"  one, 
once  a  year  at  least  to  old  and  young  it  is  an 
euphonious  name, — one  that  is  on  everybody's  lips, 
and  what  it  represents  is  in  everybody's  mouth,  at 
least  if  they  have  the  price  to  pay  for  it.  It  takes 
its  name  from  Turkey  Pond,  and  the  name  was 
given  to  the  pond  from  a  fancied  resemblance  to  a 
turkey — Great  Turkey  Pond  being  the  body;  the 
stream  that  flows  out  of  it  being  the  neck,  and 
Little  Turkey  Pond,  into  which  it  flows,  being  the 
head.  Anyone  looking  at  the  map  of  Concord  will 
see  that  it  is  as  crooked  a  stream  as  can  be  found 
in  this  section  of  the  state.  Although  Bow  Mills 
is  only  about  three  or  four  miles  due  east,  as  the 
crow  flies,  from  Truro  Pond  in  Bow,  its  headwaters, 
yet  this  river  takes  a  circuit  of  at  least  ten  or  a 


Wayside   Jottings  11 

dozen  miles,  going  from  this  pond  north  as  a  brook, 
into  Great  Turkey  Pond;  thence  nearly  west  into 
Little  Turkey  Pond ;  thence  in  a  southerly  direction 
until  it  reaches  Frye's  Mills;  then  in  an  easterly 
direction,  until  it  enters  the  Merrimack  near  Tur- 
key Palls,  and  thus  boxing  the  compass.  In  going 
this  distance  there  are  on  its  course  at  least  a  half 
dozen  good  mill  privileges,  the  best  being  at  Turkey 
Falls  and  Bow  Mills,  the  latter  being  now  the  only 
one  in  use. 

The  writer  has  referred  to  Nathaniel  H.  Carter. 
He  was  one  of  Concord 's  most  talented  citizens  and 
lived  on  the  banks  of  this  river,  on  what  is  now 
known  as  Moor  eland  farm.  He  loved  this,  his 
"native  stream,"  and  showed  his  appreciation  of  it 
in  the  verses  that  he  wrote  during  the  last  days 
that  he  passed  in  Concord  prior  to  going  to  a 
foreign  land,  from  which  he  never  returned.  His 
poem,  "To  My  Native  Stream,"  may  perhaps  take 
rank  with  Whittier's  "Our  Eiver,"  in  which  he 
sings  the  praises  of  the  Merrimack;  with  Longfel- 
low's verses,  "To  the  River  Charles,"  or  with 
Robert  Burns 's  tribute  to  "Bonnie  Doon."  We 
will  quote  two  of  the  eleven  verses  of  which  it  is 
composed : 

Along  the  Shannon,  Doon  and  Tay, 
I've  wandered  many  a  happy  day, 
And  sought  beside  the  Cam  and  Thames 
Memorials  of  immortal  names; 
Or  mingled  in  the  polished  train 
Of  fashion,  on  the  banks  of  Seine. 


12  Wayside   Jottings 

Yet  not  the  less,  my  native  stream, 
Art  thou  to  me  a  grateful  theme, 
Than  when,  in  heedless  boyhood's  prime, 
I  wove  for  thee  the  rustic  rhyme, 
Ere  other  realms,  beyond  the  sea, 
Had  spread  their  fairest  charms  for  me. 

Why  should  Turkey  River  have  been  so  named 
merely  because  it  flows  out  of  Turkey  Pond? 
There  is  an  Indian  came  that,  it  seems  to  the 
writer,  is  a  good  deal  more  befitting.  It  is  that  of 
Tahanto,  a  sagamore  of  the  tribe  of  the  Penacooks, 
and  who,  as  Prof.  Amos  Hadley  intimates,  in 
the  new  "History  of  Concord,"  was  the  original 
teetotaler  in  the  plantation  of  Penacook.  Fearful 
of  its  effect  on  the  Indians,  he  hoped,  if  the  settlers 
had  brought  with  them  liquor  to  sell,  that  they 
would  pour  it  on  the  ground,  "for  it  would  make 
the  Indians  all  one  devil."  And  as  Tahanto  no 
doubt  roamed  along  its  banks  and  fished  in  its 
waters,  what  more  appropriate  name  than  his  could 
be  given  to  this  river,  flowing  by  the  classic  shades 
of  St.  Paul's,  along  with  the  other  Indian  names 
of  the  tributaries  of  the  Merrimack. 

In  this  connection,  it  has  always  seemed  to  the 
writer  that  the  names  given  to  the  states  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island  are  meaningless 
and  far-fetched.  How  much  more  appropriate  if 
these  states  had  been  named  and  known,  respec- 
tively, as  the  State  of  Kennebec,  the  State  of  Merri- 
mack and  the  State  of  Narraganset;  and  the  same 
might  be  said  of  some  of  the  Middle  and  Southern 


Wayside   Jottings  18 

states,  in  receiving  English  names  instead  of 
Indian.  And,  going  from  the  less  to  the  greater, 
from  the  states  to  the  country  at  large,  how  much 
more  appropriate  in  every  way  if  our  great  and 
universal  Yankee  nation  should  have  been  known  as 
the  United  States  of  Columbia. 


III. 

It  is  but  a  short  distance  from  Bow  Mills  to  Bow 
Crossing,  over  which  the  trains  of  the  Boston  & 
Maine  Railroad  travel  at  full  speed.  Here  we  also 
strike  the  Merrimack  at  Turkey  Falls,  the  second 
falls  of  that  name,  and  so  named  from  Turkey 
Eiver.  A  little  farther  along  the  bank  of  this 
river  is  Portsmouth  bridge,  so  called,  built  in  the 
early  years  of  the  Concord  &  Portsmouth  Railroad, 
when  it  went  straight  down  to  Portsmouth  instead 
of  making  a  detour  by  way  of  Manchester.  It  is 
about  the  last  of  the  old  wooden  bridges  on  the  line 
of  the  railroad  to  Boston,  and  when  its  piers  were 
built  they  were  made  wide  enough  to  have  a  double 
track.  But  one  line  of  track  has,  however,  been 
as  yet  constructed,  and  has  to  do  double  duty  for 
the  passage  of  the  steam  and  the  electric  cars.  It 
is  probable  that  before  many  years  an  iron  or  steel 
bridge  will  replace  the  wooden  one,  and  then  two 
tracks  can  be  arranged,  one  for  each  road. 

The  views  in  the  bend  of  the  Merrimack,  just 
above  this  bridge,  in  the  summer  and  fall  months, 
are  beautiful,  and  some  summer  residents,  being  of 


14  Wayside   Jottings 

that  opinion,  have  built  in  a  pine  grove  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  river,  a  number  of  cottages. 
They  could  not  be  located  in  a  place  easier  of 
access,  as  the  electrics  pass  by  the  doors  every  half- 
hour  in  the  summer  time,  and  one  has  only  to  step 
from  the  car  to  his  cottage. 

Mention  was  made  in  the  last  number  of  the 
"Wayside  Jottings"  of  the  love  that  Nathaniel  H. 
Carter,  the  most  famous  of  Concord's  poets,  had 
for  the  Turkey  River,  as  was  evinced  in  the  verses 
that  he  wrote  concerning  it,  two  verses  of  which 
we  quoted.  John  G.  Whittier,  all  his  life,  was  a 
dweller  near  the  banks  of  the  Merrimack, — in  his 
early  home  in  Haverhill,  Muss.,  and  in  his  later 
one  in  Amesbury, — a  little  farther  down  the  river. 
It  is  doubtful  if  there  are  any  fairer  views  along  its 
course  down  the  backbone  of  the  Granite  State  to 
the  sea  than  are  to  be  seen  on  the  ride  by  rail  from 
Concord  to  Lowell.  And  it  is  the  same  Merrimack 
above  Turkey  Falls  and  Portsmouth  bridge  that  it 
is  at  the  "Laurels"  near  Amesbury,  where  Whit- 
tier  read  his  poem,  "Our  River,"  at  a  summer  fes- 
tival, some  of  the  verses  of  which  we  quote: 

We  know  the  world  Is  rich  with  streams 

Renowned  In  song  and  story, 
Whose  music  murmurs  through  our  dreams 

Of  human  love  and  glory : 
We  know  that  Arno's  banks  are  fair. 

The  Rhine  has  castled  shadows, 
And,  poet-tuned,  the  Doon  and  Ayr 

Go  singing  down  their  meadows. 


Wayside   Jottings  15 

But  while  unpictured  and  unsung 

By  painter  or  by  poet, 
Our  river  waits  the  tuneful  tongue 

And  cunning  hand  to  show  it, — 
We  only  know  the  fond  skies  lean 

Above  it,  warm  with  blessing, 
And  the  sweet  soul  of  our  Undine 

Awakes  to  our  caressing. 

No  fickle  sun-god  holds  the  flocks 

That  graze  its  shdres  in  keeping; 
No  icy  kiss  of  Diane  mocks 

The  youth  beside  it  sleeping: 
Our  Christian  river  loveth  most 

The  beautiful  and  human; 
The  heathen  streams  of  Naiads  boast, 

But  ours  of  man  and  woman. 

The  miner  in  his  cabin  hears 

The  ripple  we  are  hearing; 
It  whispers  soft  to  homesick  ears 

Around  the  settler's  clearing ; 
In  Sacramento's  vales  of  corn, 

Or  Santee's  bloom  of  cotton, 
Our  river,  by  its  valley-born, 

Was   never   yet   forgotten. 

And  thou,  O  mountain-born ! — no  more 

We  ask  the  wise  Allotter 
Than  for  the  firmness  of  thy  shore, 

The  calmness  of  thy  water, 
The  cheerful  lights  that  overlay 

Thy  rugged  slopes  with  beauty, 
To  match  our  spirits  to  our  day 

And  make  a  joy  of  duty. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  and  it  is  only  his 
opinion,  this  is  number  one,  Simon-pure,  genuine, 


16  Wayside   Jottings 

yard-wide  poetry ;  one  does  not  have  to  read  it  over 
a  second  time  to  find  out  what  the  rhymster  is 
driving  at.  For  instance,  witness  these  highly 
poetic  lines: 

And,  poet-tuned,  the  Doon  and  Ayr 
Go  singing  down  their  meadows. 

This  is  no  doubt  a  veiled  allusion  to  Robert  Burns 
and  Walter  Scott,  and  the  association  of  their 
names  with  two  of  Scotland's  famous  rivers. 
Whether  it  would  be  correct  to  affirm  that  the 
Merrimack  goes  "singing"  down  the  wide  inter- 
vales of  Concord,  the  writer  is  not  prepared  to  say. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  at  Amoskeag  Falls, 
especially  in  the  springtime,  it  goes  roaring  and 
tumbling  down  over  the  big  boulders,  and  which, 
if  Southey  could  have  seen,  instead  of  writing  a 
poem  on  ''How  Does  the  Water  Come  Down  at 
Lodore?"  he  would  have  written  one  on  "How 
Does  the  Water  Come  Down  at  Amoskeag  ? ' '  And 
he  could  also  have  thrown  in  a  few  more  adjectives 
to  describe  the  manner  of  its  coming  down. 

Hall  Street,  over  which  we  pass  after  leaving 
Portsmouth  bridge  on  our  Vamble,  is  an  intervale 
highway,  and,  as  the  Merrimack  has  been  continu- 
ally changing  its  course,  who  knows  but  what  this 
street  may  be  where  was  once  the  bed  of  the  river  T 
Along  this  street  are  a  number  of  farm  houses  and 
also  dwellings,  occupied  by  the  workmen  at  the 
Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  shops.  While  the  Merri- 
mack usually  behaves  itself  and  flows  peacefully 


Wayside   Jottings  17 

between  its  banks,  every  few  years,  in  the  spring- 
time, it  gets  on  a  rampage  and  spreads  itself  out 
over  the  intervale,  from  " Sugar  Ball"  to  Bow 
Crossing,  and  becomes  a  mighty  river,  a  second 
Mississippi,  in  fact,  and  then  these  houses  are  com- 
pletely surrounded  by  water.  One  of  these  big 
freshets  occurred  some  ten  years  ago,  and  another 
a  few  years  previous,  when  the  west  section  of  the 
lower,  or  Concord  bridge,  was  carried  down  stream. 
But  this  does  not  deter  people  from  building  along 
the  line  of  the  street,  and  in  recent  years  a  number 
of  new  and  desirable  homes  have  been  erected,  and 
there  is  room  for  more. 

Near  the  Junction  of  Hall  and  Water  Streets,  or 
situated  on  the  triangular  piece  of  land  bounded 
by  Hall,  Water  and  Hammond  Streets,  stands  the 
old  Rolfe  mansion,  built  by  Col.  Benjamin  Rolfe 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  or  in  the 
year  1764.  It  is  a  good  and  well  preserved  speci- 
men of  the  old  style  houses  of  the  colonial  period, — 

The  good  old  Colony  times 
When  we  lived  under  the  king. 

A  good  picture  of  it,  before  it  was  enlarged  for 
the  use  of  the  Rolfe  and  Rumford  Asylum,  is  to 
be  seen  on  page  108  of  the  new  "History  of  Con- 
cord." Here  Colonel  Rolfe  lived  for  a  few  years 
after  his  marriage  to  Sarah,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Rev.  Timothy  Walker,  the  first  minister  of  the 
town.  After  his  decease,  his  widow  married  Benja- 
min Thompson,  a  schoolmaster,  who  came  hither 


18  Wayside   Jottings 

from  Woburn,  Mass.,  to  teach  the  young  idea  how 
to  shoot,  and  who  afterwards  became  famous  as 
Count  Rumford.  His  life  is  an  interesting  and 
eventful  one  and  is  well  told  in  a  volume  of  six 
hundred  and  eighty  pages,  written  by  Dr.  George 
E.  Ellis  of  Boston.  There  is  no  space  in  these 
"Jottings"  to  go  into  any  particulars  respecting 
him.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  his  career  in  Concord, 
then  known  as  Rumford,  was  an  unpopular  one, 
and  coming  here  as  he  did  about  the  time  that  our 
unpleasantness  began  with  the  Mother  Country, 
with  which  he  was  suspected  of  being  a  sympa- 
thizer, he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  his  room  was 
more  desired  by  the  people  of  the  town  than  his 
company.  In  November,  1774,  he  took  French  leave 
of  the  town,  to  avoid  being  mobbed,  between  two 
days,  and  never  set  foot  on  our  soil  again.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  afterwards  he  would  have  liked 
to  enter  the  Continental  Army,  and  he  would  have 
made  a  splendid  officer.  As  Doctor  Ellis  says: 
"There  was  one  set  of  men  whom  he  could  never 
conciliate,  who  mistrusted  his  purposes  and  cast 
upon  him  lowering  looks  as  they  met  him  about 
the  camp  in  Cambridge.  They  were  the  general 
and  field  officers  from  New  Hampshire,  who  looked 
upon  him  as  a  dandy  and  an  upstart,  at  least,  if 
not  also  at  heart  a  traitor.  They  would  not  associ- 
ate with  him,  still  less  confide  in  him.  ...  If 
the  people  of  Concord  (Rumford)  and  the  jealous 
regimental  officers  of  New  Hampshire  were  respon- 
sible for  depriving  the  patriot  cause  of  an  effective 


Wayside   Jottings  19 

military  or  executive  servant,  they  may  claim  credit 
for  furnishing  Europe  with  a  very  eminent  and 
practically  useful  philosopher."  Count  Rumford 's 
early  life  was  made  unpleasant  on  account  of  this 
unfounded  jealousy,  and  his  last  days  were  made 
unhappy  by  an  unfortunate  second  marriage  to 
Madame  Lavoisier,  a  French  lady. 

Here,  then,  to  this  old  home  his  daughter,  the 
Countess  of  Rumford,  came,  after  passing  a  few 
years  with  her  father  in  Europe,  in  the  month  of 
July,  1844,  and  lived  here  till  December  2,  1852, 
when  she  died,  in  the  chamber  where  she  was  born, 
in  her  seventy-ninth  year.  It  may  be  truthfully 
affirmed  that  if  there  had  been  no  Count  Rumford, 
who  was  blessed  with  wealth  and  also  with  a  dis- 
position to  use  it  for  the  benefit  of  others,  there 
would  have  been  no  Rolfe  and  Rumford  orphan 
asylum  in  Concord,  on  the  banks  of  the  Merrimack. 

IV. 

At  the  junction  of  South  Main,  Water  and  "West 
Streets,  we  pass,  on  the  last  leg  of  our  ramble,  an 
old  landmark,  one  of  the  remaining  old  Concord 
taverns,  the  other  one  being  the  Washington  House 
at  the  North  End.  It  was  generally  known  in  its, 
palmy  days  as  "Butters'  Tavern,"  and  is  the  oldest 
of  these  two,  having  been  built  in  the  year  1780, 
and  was  never  painted,  save  by  the  weather  brush 
of  time.  Henry  McFarland,  in  his  interesting 
chapter,  in  the  new  "History  of  Concord,"  on 


20  Wayside   Jottings 

"Canals,  Stage  Lines  and  Taverns,"  says:  "Dur- 
ing the  years  of  teaming,  boating  and  staging,  it 
held  a  desirable  location  and  was  a  thriving  inn. 
Its  landlords  were  Samuel  Butters,  1780-1811; 
Timothy  Butters,  1811-1814;  John  Carr,  1814- 
1822 ;  Joshua  Lynch,  1823-1829 ;  George  Saltmarsh, 
1830 ;  William  Manley  Carter,  and  Carter  &  Priest, 
1831-1842;  Leonard  Bell,  1843;  David  N.  Hoit, 
1844-1845.  In  its  later  years  it  was  known  as  the 
'Concord  Railroad  House.'  It  was  from  'Butters' 
Hill '  that  the  coming  of  President  Monroe,  on  July 
17,  1817,  was  announced  by  a  salute  by  Capt. 
Richard  Herbert's  Concord  artillery  company,  as 
he  passed  Concord  bridge,  and  on  through  Main 
Street  to  the  Washington  House,  kept  then  by 
Lemuel  Barker,  where  he  was  entertained  in  a  royal 
manner  by  the  town  authorities  of  Concord.  But- 
ters' Tavern  had  an  unbroken  record  of  sixty-five 
years  as  a  place  of  entertainment  for  man  and 
beast." 

Public  transportation  in  the  olden  times,  as  is 
well  known,  was  carried  on  by  the  various  stage 
lines  that  converged  in  Concord,  and  a  multitude 
of  teams  was  also  required  to  transport  all  kinds 
of  freight  up  and  down  the  Merrimack  Valley. 
The  old  taverns  were  the  favorite  stopping  places 
for  the  teamsters  over  night;  and  Butters'  Tavern 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  them.  Some  years  ago, 
in  conversation  with  William  Carter,  son  of  Manley 
Carter,  a  popular  landlord  in  the  thirties,  he  gave 
an  account  of  the  customs  of  the  travelling  public 


Wayside   Jottings  21 

in  those  days.  Sometimes  there  would  be  as  many 
as  forty  teams  that  stopped  there  over  night.  A 
good  deal  of  accommodation  was  shown  the  teams- 
ters, as  some  of  them  would  bring  their  "grub" 
along  with  them,  and  were  privileged  to  eat  it  in 
the  bar  or  dining  room,  paying  for  their  lodging 
and  the  baiting  of  their  teams.  Those  who  pat- 
ronized the  full  "menu"  paid  fifty  cents  for 
supper,  lodging  and  breakfast.  This  included  a 
cigar  and  a  glass  of  rum.  During  the  open  season 
these  teams  furnished  a  good  share  of  the  freight 
for  the  canal  boats,  that  started  from  the  boating 
house  near  the  Concord  bridge  on  their  trip  down 
the  river,  through  the  Middlesex  canal,  from  Lowell 
to  Boston;  and  getting  freight  from  the  boats  on 
their  return  trip.  In  the  winter,  of  course,  this 
means  of  communication  was  suspended  during  the 
ice  embargo,  and  then  a  long  line  of  two-horse  pung 
sleighs,  painted  red,  loaded  with  produce  from  the 
north  country  and  Vermont  would  pass  down  over 
the  Londonderry  turnpike  to  the  "Hub,"  loaded 
down  on  their  return  with  groceries  and  other  sup- 
plies that  were  needed  in  the  homes  of  the  farmers. 
Country  taverns  in  those  days  got  their  custom 
mainly  from  this  source,  and  jolly  times  were  wit- 
nessed within  their  walls  when  the  teamsters  tarried 
over  night. 

We  continue  our  ramble  along  the  west  side  of 
South  Main  Street,  and  we  come  to  a  mechanical 
industry  that  has  done  more  to  build  up  the  South 
End  than  any  other  in  this  section  of  the  city, 


22  Wayside   Jottings 

which  is  now  known  as  the  Abbot-Downing  Com- 
pany. The  fame  of  this  carriage  manufactory  is 
world-wide,  and  its  products  are  A  No.  1  in  quality. 
The  sign  over  the  main  entrance,  on  which  is  in- 
scribed the  dates  1813-1873,  indicates  the  year 
when  Lewis  Downing  commenced  operations  in  this 
line  of  business,  and  also  the  year  that  the  Abbot- 
Downing  Company  was  formed.  Downing  was  a 
pioneer  in  the  carriage  and  coach  business  in  Con- 
cord; afterwards  J.  Stephens  Abbot  and  sons  suc- 
ceeded him  at  the  old  stand,  Mr.  Downing  and  his 
two  sons  carrying  on  the  business  farther  up  on 
Main  Street,  nearly  opposite  the  Phenix  Hotel.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  know  the  number  of  vehicles 
of  all  kinds  that  have  been  made  at  this  plant  and 
distributed  far  and  wide.  If  the  pianofortes  that 
the  Chickerings  of  Boston  have  made  in  the  eighty- 
three  years  since  they  commenced  business  (nearly 
110,000),  if  placed  end  to  end  would  reach  from 
Boston  to  Portland,  no  doubt  the  vehicles  made 
here  in  ninety-three  years  would  reach  from  Con- 
cord to  Portland  and  perhaps  some  miles  beyond. 
On  April  15,  1868,  a  train  of  thirty  platform  cars 
pulled  out  of  Concord,  on  which  were  loaded  thirty 
stage  coaches,  destined  for  the  overland  mail  route 
to  California.  It  was  a  sight  that  was  never  seen 
before  or  since  in  this  city.  A  photograph  was 
taken  of  this  train,  which  adorns  the  walls  of  the 
office  of  the  Abbot-Downing  Company.  Concord 
could  ill  afford  to  spare  this  company  from  its  lines 
of  industries,  for  it  has  been  one  of  the  old  stand- 


Wayside   Jottings  23 

bys  that  has  done  its  part  to  promote  the  prosperity 
of  our  city. 

South  Main  Street,  years  ago,  more  particularly 
the  west  side  of  it,  was  one  of  the  principal  resi- 
dential streets  in  Concord.  The  houses  that  line 
that  side  of  the  street  are  home-like,  and  are  well 
set  up  and  back  from  the  street,  with  a  wide  side- 
walk and  yard  between  them  and  the  roadway  that 
follows  the  ridge  of  land  north  to  Fayette  Street. 
To  add  to  the  attraction  of  this  street,  a  row  of 
noble  elms,  some  of  them  all  of  a  hundred  years 
old,  afford  plenty  of  shade.  Here  have  lived  and 
died  some  of  Concord's  best  citizens;  and  there  is 
rather  a  mournful  interest  connected  with  the  fact 
of  the  great  changes  that  have  taken  place  in 
these  homes — whole  families  having  been  removed, 
mainly  by  death,  and  there  are  but  few  of  the  old 
residents  of  fifty  years  ago  that  are  left.  Suppose 
we  turn  back  the  tide  of  time  to  the  years  of  the 
fifties  and  bring  to  remembrance,  if  we  can,  those 
who  were  then  dwelling  in  these  homes.  Just 
north  of  the  Abbot-Downing  Company's  plant  was 
the  home  of  Lewis  Downing,  who  came  to  Concord 
from  Lexington,  Mass.,  in  1813,  and  in  the  month 
of  November  of  that  year  completed  his  first ' '  Con- 
cord wagon, ' '  every  part  of  it  having  been  made  by 
hand  labor.  With  him  later  lived  J.  C.  A.  Hill, 
his  son-in-law.  There  was  no  Perley  Street  then 
laid  out  and  on  the  site  of  the  Catholic  Church 
stood  a  cottage  owned  by  Mrs.  Merrill.  Next  was 
the  large  house  occupied  by  James  Goodridge  and 


24  Wayside   Jottings 

Stephen  Swett;  and  on  the  south  corner  of  South 
Main  and  Thorndike  Streets  was  the  home  of  Wil- 
lard  Williams,  one  of  the  foremen  at  the  Abbot 
carriage  manufactory.  It  was  also  distinguished 
as  the  abode  of  Gen.  Franklin  Pierce  when  he 
received  the  nomination  of  president  of  the  United 
States  in  the  summer  of  1852.  Of  course,  he  was 
the  most  prominent  resident  on  the  line  of  the 
street,  and  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in 
the  state.  New  Hampshire  ought  to  honor  him 
with  a  statue  in  the  state-house  park,  and  perhaps 
some  day  he  will  be  thus  honored.  On  the  north 
corner  of  Thorndike  Street  was  the  home  of  Charles 
Hutchins,  and  next  north  of  that  George  Hutchins, 
brothers — two  of  the  old-time  successful  merchants 
of  Concord.  It  was  a  peculiarly  sad  fate  that 
befell  George  Hutchins  and  his  wife,  in  being 
burned  to  death  on  a  steamboat  on  the  Ohio  River 
in  the  fall  of  1868,  as  they  were  journeying  down 
the  river  to  New  Orleans  to  visit  their  son,  Maj. 
B.  T.  Hutchins.  The  double  brick  dwelling  house 
on  the  south  side  of  Wentworth  Avenue  has  been 
built  since  the  years  we  are  considering;  the  house 
that  stands  in  the  rear  of  this  avenue  was  moved 
from  the  line  of  the  street  some  years  ago,  and  was 
the  home  of  Abraham  Prescott,  the  pioneer  in  this 
state  in  the  manufacture  of  bass  and  double  bass 
viols;  and  the  double  tenement  to  the  south  of  it 
on  this  avenue  was  formerly  the  shop  where  these 
musical  instruments  were  made  and  sent  out  into 
the  world.  The  house  next  north,  known  as  the 


Wayside   Jottings .  25 

Joseph  Wentworth  residence,  has  been  built  since 
the  fifties ;  it  was  built  by  Willard  Williams,  where 
he  also  lived,  and  with  whom  General  Pierce  re- 
sided, after  becoming  an  ex-president,  and  where 
he  died  on  October  8,  1869.  Perhaps  we  should 
state  that  after  Mr.  Williams  moved  from  the  house 
on  the  corner  of  Thorndike  Street  to  this  house, 
Dr.  J.  H.  Eames  purchased  it  and  lived  there  for 
a  number  of  years;  also  for  some  years,  Father 
Barry  made  his  home  in  the  rectory  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  till  his  tragic  death  in  November,  1900. 
We  are,  however,  considering  mainly  the  dwellers 
along  the  line  of  the  street  in  the  fifties. 

North  of  the  Wentworth  house  was  the  home  of 
Samuel  Fletcher,  an  old-time  Concord  lawyer; 
afterwards  the  house  was  remodelled  and  occupied 
by  Judge  Ira  A.  Eastman,  and  later  by  John  M. 
Hill;  on  the  south  corner  of  Concord,  formerly 
Cross  Street,  resided  Mrs.  Chase  and  Mrs.  Kendall, 
sisters,  Mrs.  Chase  afterwards  marrying  A.  J.  Pres- 
cott,  he  living  there  till  his  decease.  Rev.  Henry 
E.  Parker,  then  pastor  of  the  South  Church, 
boarded  in  the  family  for  a  number  of  years. 

On  the  north  corner  of  Concord  Street,  standing 
on  the  spacious  grounds  now  owned  by  Hon.  B.  A. 
Kimball,  was  a  long  wooden  block,  which  at  first 
was  occupied  as  the  "  Thompsonian  Infirmary"; 
afterwards  it  was  converted  into  tenements.  Hon. 
J.  H.  Gallinger,  in  his  interesting  chapter,  in  the 
new  History  of  Concord,  on  the  "Medical  Profes- 
sion," gives  an  account  of  the  peculiar  course  of 


26  Wayside   Jottings 

treatment  that  was  practiced  at  this  "infirmary," 
to  cure  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  The  methods 
mainly  seemed  to  be  to  steam  the  disease  out  of  the 
patient,  and  were  successful,  either  in  curing  or 
killing  him.  It  was  one  of  the  fads  of  that  day ;  a 
course  of  treatment,  the  antithesis  of  the  "water 
cure,"  practiced  in  later  years  in  the  establish- 
ment of  that  name,  located  on  the  corner  of  North 
Main  and  Center  Streets,  now  known  as  the  Com- 
mercial House.  Doctor  Gallinger,  in  his  article,  re- 
lates the  story  of  a  good  old  orthodox  minister,  who 
resided  in  a  neighboring  town,  and  who  made 
an  exchange  with  one  of  his  Concord  brethren, 
arriving  at  the  infirmary  one  Saturday  night,  suf- 
fering from  a  severe  cold.  He  asked  Doctor 
Thompson  if  he  could  get  it  out  of  him,  so  that  he 
would  be  able  to  preach  the  next  day,  and  was 
somewhat  shocked  when  Doctor  Thompson  informed 
him  that  he  "could  steam  hell  and  damnation  out 
of  him."  Where  Mr.  Kimball  lives  in  his  beauti- 
ful and  commodious  home,  which  has  been  com- 
pletely remodelled,  dwelt  George  B.  Chandler,  who. 
in  the  fifties  was  one  of  Concord's  prominent  bank- 
ers ;  next  was  the  home  of  Peter  Sanborn,  for  some 
years  state  treasurer,  filling  that  position,  in  the 
years  of  the  Civil  War,  and  at  a  time  when  large 
sums  of  money  passed  through  his  hands;  and  on 
the  south  corner  of  Thompson  Street,  probably 
named  after  Doctor  Thompson,  lived  John  F. 
Brown,  who  was  the  proprietor  then  of  the  Frank- 
lin book  store. 


Wayside   Jottings  27 

On  the  north  corner  of  Thompson  Street  dwelt 
Theodore  French,  at  that  time  retired  from  busi- 
ness, who,  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  life,  was 
identified  with  the  Merrimack  Boating  Company; 
and  the  double  house,  just  north,  was  occupied  by 
Rev.  C.  W.  Flanders,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  afterwards  by  Rev.  B.  P.  Stone,  the  editor 
of  the  Congregational  Journal.  In  the  north  part 
lived  Gen.  Joseph  Low,  the  first  mayor  of  Con- 
cord. Where  St.  Mary's  School  is  pleasantly  situ- 
ated was  the  home  of  Gov.  Joseph  A.  GiLmore, 
afterwards  of  Judge  Asa  Fowler;  it  was  built  by 
Judge  Hall  Burgin.  The  Farrington  brothers, 
who  came  from  Hopkinton,  lived  in  the  double 
house  on  the  north  corner  of  Fayette  Street.  This 
and  the  General  Low  house  style  of  architecture, 
in  their  day,  were  somewhat  pretentious,  being  con- 
structed in  a  better  style  than  the  common  run  of 
houses,  and  have  a  substantial  appearance.  They 
were  designed  and  built  by  John  Leach,  an  old- 
time  Concord  architect  and  builder,  who  planned 
and  built,  if  we  mistake  not,  the  first  Unitarian 
Church  which  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  which  has  survived  all  the  other 
old  churches.  In  the  last  years  of  his  life,  Mr. 
Leach  built  the  brick  house  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  South  State  and  Fayette  Streets,  where,  we  be- 
lieve, he  died. 

The  Doctor  Smart  house,  that  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  Huntwood  Terrace,  and  which  was  recently 
torn  down  and -removed  to  South  Street,  was  moved 


28  Wayside   Jottings 

from  North  State  Street,  standing  between  the 
First  Baptist  and  Universalist  Churches.  Its  re- 
cent place  was  on  the  site  of  the  shop  of  Timothy 
Chandler,  the  famous  clockmaker,  some  of  whose 
clocks  are  now  probably  ticking  in  the  farm  houses 
of  New  Hampshire.  Next  was  the  house  where  for 
some  years  Mr.  Chandler  lived,  and  at  the  time 
we  allude,  was  occupied,  we  think,  by  the  Neal 
family,  one  member  of  which  is  David  L.  Neal  of 
the  Statesman.  This  house  was  torn  down,  or  re- 
moved, when  J.  Stephens  Abbot  erected  his  fine 
residence  which  took  the  place  of  his  old  home  and 
was  considered  at  the  time  the  finest  residence  in 
Concord.  On  the  adjoining  lot  on  the  north  was 
the  home  of  Franklin  Evans,  an  old-time  Concord 
merchant,  and  the  last  male  survivor  living  on  the 
west  side  of  this  street.  Next  was  the  home  of 
James  S.  Norris,  Concord's  old-time  baker  and  con- 
fectioner, successor  to  Ebenezer  Symmes,  who  re- 
sided in  the  same  house  that  Mr.  Norris  afterwards 
lived  in,  and  which  was  moved  to  the  lower  end  of 
South  Spring  Street,  to  make  way  for  a  better 
dwelling.  The  old  bakery  came  next,  which  was 
burned  at  the  time  of  the  South  Church  fire,  as  was 
the  old  house  occupied  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Smart,  which 
stood  next  to  the  church. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  Acquilla  Block,  the 
starting  point  of  our  six-mile  ramble,  situated  on 
the  site  of  the  first  South  Church.  It  is  probably 
the  busiest,  as  well  as  the  noisiest  corner,  on  the 
line  of  Main  Street,  as  it  is  the  point  of  transfer 


Looking  up  I'leusant  Street 


Looking  up  Main  Street  from  Pleasant 


Wayside   Jottings  29 

and  departure  of  the  patrons  of  the  electrics,  that 
start  on  their  trips  every  fifteen  minutes,  to  and 
from  North  Main,  South  Main,  West  End  and 
South  End,  beginning  early  in  the  morning  and 
continuing  till  late  at  night.  How  the  dwellers  in 
the  apartments  near  this  corner  manage  to  obtain 
a  rest  is  not  known  to  the  writer;  probably  .they 
have  got  used  to  the  noise,  and  would  miss  it  if  it 
should  cease. 

Fifty  years  usually  make  a  great  change  in  the 
dwellers  on  the  line  of  any  of  the  streets  of  Con- 
cord, and  the  west  side  of  South  Main  Street  is  no 
exception  to  this  rule.  The  writer  has  compared 
notes  with  some  of  the  lifelong  residents  on  this 
street,  and  he  finds  of  the  residents  of  fifty  years 
ago  but  few  remain.  Of  those  who  have  lived  here, 
in  the  homes  of  their  childhood,  this  length  of  time, 
we  may  name  Mrs.  J.  C.  A.  Hill,  daughter  of  Lewis 
Downing;  Mrs.  C.  C.  Lund,  daughter  of  Theodore 
French;  Miss  Lizzie  Evans,  daughter  of  Franklin 
Evans;  James  H.  Goodridge,  son  of  James  Good- 
ridge;  Peter  Sanborn,  Jr.,  son  of  Peter  Sanborn; 
James  C.  Norris,  son  of  James  S.  Norris,  who  has 
recently  occupied  the  home  of  his  father.  Some 
of  the  members  of  the  families  mentioned  are  living 
in  town  or  elsewhere.  These  include  George  D.  B. 
Prescott,  son  of  Abraham  Prescott,  who  lives  on 
Pillsbury  Street;  Mrs.  G.  W.  Crockett,  daughter 
of  James  S.  Norris,  who  lives  on  Pleasant  Street; 
David  L.  Neal,  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  H.  L.  Rand, 
children  of  Capt.  David  Neal,  who  live  on  North 


30  Wayside   Jottings 

State  Street ;  Edward  A.  Abbot,  and  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Gerald  Wyman,  children  of  J.  Stephens  Abbot, 
who  live  in  Boston;  Prof.  J.  H.  Gilmore,  living 
in  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  Frank  W.  Gilmore,  living  in 
Hopkinton ;  John  L.  Gilmore,  living  in  Boston ; 
Addison  Gilmore,  living  in  Warner,  sons  of  Gov. 
Joseph  A.  Gilmore;  Rev.  C.  L.  Hutchins,  son  of 
George  Hutchins,  living  in  Massachusetts.  Possibly 
there  are  others.  There  were  some  good-sized 
families  on  the  line  of  this  street  fifty  years  ago, 
notably  the  Hutchins,  Prescott,  Low  and  Gilmore 
families. 

V. 

On  page  48,  volume  1,  of  the  new  "History  of 
Concord,"  there  is  a  plan  of  Main  Street  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  year  1827.  As  its  name  imports,  it 
was  the  principal  street  in  the  village,  serving  both 
as  a  business  and  a  residential  street.  In  fact, 
there  were  no  streets  then  laid  out  parallel  to  it, 
save  South  Street,  which  is  not  exactly  parallel. 
Leading  out  of  Main  Street,  on  the  west,  were 
seven  other  streets,  viz.,  Penacook,  Franklin,  Wash- 
ington, Center,  School,  Pleasant  and  West.  This 
plan  also  shows  that  the  territory  lying  between 
Pleasant  and  West  Streets  was  mainly  divided  up 
into  small  farms,  similar,  probably,  in  extent  to 
the  "Eleven  Lots"  lying  on  Hall  Street,  between 
the  Rolfe  and  Rumford  Asylum  and  the  Bow  line. 
The  names  of  the  owners  of  these  farms  as  given, 
were  Chandler,  Bullard,  Harris,  Thorndike,  Down- 


Wayside   Jottings  31 

ing  and  Shute.  These  farms  extended  as  far  back 
as  South  Street,  while  the  owners  resided  on  the 
east  line  of  the  farms  on  what  is  now  known  as 
South  Main  Street;  and  thus  whatever  other  busi- 
ness they  may  have  had,  it  was  carried  on  in  con- 
nection with  that  of  farming.  Probably  a  good 
share  of  the  residents  on  the  line  of  Main  Street, 
both  North- and  South,  carried  on  farming  in  a 
small  way  with  their  other  business,  and  were  the 
owners  of  sections  of  intervale  and  forest  land. 

Frances  M.  Abbott,  in  her  interesting  chapter  in 
the  new  ' '  History  of  Concord, "  on  "  Domestic  Cus- 
toms and  Social  Life,"  says:  "Main  Street  was 
slow  in  making,  but  there  were  early  indications 
that  it  was  to  be  the  spinal  column  of  the  future 
town.  It  was  formally  laid  out  June  23,  1785. 
As  originally  planned,  it  would  have  been  ten  rods 
wide,  but  it  was  finally  decided  to  contract  it  to  its 
present  dimensions,  six  rods,  or  about  one  hundred 
feet,  which  makes  an  ample  thoroughfare.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  the  spacious  Roby  house,  207 
North  Main  Street,  built  by  Benjamin  Kimball,  and 
now  occupied  by  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Cyrus  M. 
Murdock  and  Miss  Lucy  H.  Kimball,  and  the  Her- 
bert house,  224  North  Main  Street,  both  of  which 
stand  well  back  from  the  street,  were  intended  to 
be  set  near  the  line  of  the  proposed  road.  If  Main 
Street  had  been  built  to  these  boundaries,  few 
avenues  or  boulevards  in  the  country  would  have 
surpassed  its  generous  breadth."  There  were  no 
sidewalks  along  Main  Street  for  some  years  after  it 


32  Wayside   Jottings 

was  laid  out,  and  pedestrians  had  to  take  to  the  road. 
Mr.  Hadley,  in  the  new  "History  of  Concord," 
says  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  McFarland,  when  pastor  of 
the  North  Church,  was  wont  at  the  coming  of  the 
first  sleighing  of  each  year  to  promulgate  a  rule 
from  the  pulpit  in  these  words:  ''Persons  who 
drive  in  sleighs  will  please  keep  to  the  right,  and 
let  those  who  are  afoot  have  the  middle  of  the 
road." 

Pleasant  Street,  also  known  by  the  name  of  the 
"Hopkinton  Road,"  was  probably  the  most  traveled 
highway  leading  out  of  Main  Street.  It  was  the 
main  highway  to  Hopkinton,  Dunbarton,  North 
Bow,  Weare  and  other  towns  beyond.  It  was  laid 
out  of  a  generous  width,  and  for  years  has  had  the 
reputation  of  being  the  best  street  for  a  drive  in 
town.  In  most  directions,  notably  in  that  of  West 
and  East  Concord,  there  are  railroad  crossings  to 
be  looked  out  for,  and  the  cars  for  some  distance 
are  in  close  proximity  to  the  line  of  these  high- 
ways; but  on  Pleasant  Street,  save  for  the  short 
distance  from  Main  Street  to  Liberty  Street,  which 
has  been  invaded  by  an  electric  railway,  there  are 
none  of  these  annoyances.  Recent  improvements 
in  the  macadamizing  of  the  roadway,  from  Fruit 
Street  to  Millville,  have  made  it  a  boulevard  over 
which  it  is  a  pleasure  to  drive,  especially  in  the 
early  spring  months,  when  other  roads  are  nothing 
but  mud.  A  good  sidewalk,  a  section  of  which  is 
of  concrete,  extends  from  the  junction  of  Pleasant 
Street  with  Main  Street  to  the  iron  bridge  that 


Wayside   Jottings  33 

spans  Turkey  River  at  St.  Paul's  School,  and  this 
sidewalk  is  all  of  two  miles  in  extent. 

Not  only  is  Pleasant  Street  noted  for  its  good 
roadway  and  sidewalk,  but  also  for  the  various 
objects  of  interest  that  greet  the  eye  as  one  passes 
along  its  way.  Suppose  we  take  this  ramble  out 
on  the  line  of  this  old  highway  and  if  we  find 
enough  of  interest  to  note  down  as  we  pass  along, 
we  may,  before  it  is  finished,  wander  over  into  the 
old  town  of  Hopkinton,  and  finish  our  ramble  at 
the  Perkins  Inn,  the  well  known  hostelry  in  Hop- 
kinton village,  which  still  retains  its  old  character 
for  quiet  and  comfort,  a  village  which  has  a  Rip 
Van  Winkle  air,  where  Sundays  and  week-days  are 
much  alike;  a  characteristic  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  writer,  will  only  be  changed  by  the  advent 
of  Dr.  Holmes'  "broomstick  train;"  this  of  course 
to  run  out  from  the  "Hub"  of  New  Hampshire. 

We  start,  as  we  did  on  our  first  ramble,  from  the 
Acquilla  building  at  the  junction  of  Pleasant  and 
Main  Streets.  There  is  one  thing  about  Pleasant 
Street  that  makes  it  a  different  street  from  others 
in  town,  in  that  upon  its  line  are  situated  most  of 
the  philanthropic  institutions  that  have  been  built 
in  our  city.  The  New  Hampshire  Hospital  for  the 
Insane,  starting  in  the  forties  from  small  begin- 
nings, having  its  origin,  it  is  said,  in  the  legal 
taking  off  of  Prescott,  a  demented  man,  has  in- 
creased from  year  to  year,  till  its  buildings  cover 
a  large  space  on  one  of  the  finest  locations  in  town. 
In  fact,  when  this  institution  was  located  here  Con- 


34  Wayside   Jottings 

cord  lost  one  of  its  best,  if  not  the  best  section  for 
residences.  Opposite  its  grounds,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  street,  is  the  Old  Ladies'  Home,  opened  in 
1876,  the  centennial  year  of  our  nation's  history. 
It  is  one  of  the  best  institutions  of  its  kind  in  the 
state,  and  its  usefulness  will  increase  as  the  years 
go  by.  The  additions  recently  made  to  this  home 
have  added  much  to  its  external  appearance  and 
to  the  comfort  of  its  inmates.  It  stands  on  the  site 
of  the  home  of  George  Kent,  one  of  Concord's  old- 
time  lawyers  and  bankers,  where  George  Thompson, 
the  English  abolitionist,  stopped  on  his  first  visit 
to  Concord  in  the  year  1835.  Mr.  Thompson  came 
perilously  near  being  mobbed,  and  only  escaped  by 
taking  French  leave  of  the  town.  On  his  second 
visit  to  Concord,  in  the  year  1884,  he  met  with  a 
very  different  reception,  and  gave  an  eloquent 
address  in  Eagle  Hall,  before  a  large  audience,  com- 
posed of  our  best  citizens.  Visiting  Concord  in 
company  with  Mr.  Thompson  was  John  G.  Whit- 
tier,  the  Quaker  poet.  He  was  the  guest  of  Hon. 
William  A.  Kent,  the  father  of  George  Kent,  whose 
residence  was  on  the  site  of  the  South  Church, 
farther  down  on  Pleasant  Street.  Mr.  Whittier 
got  off  with  a  pelting  from  the  mob  of  stones,  dirt 
and  eggs;  of  course  they  were  rotten  ones.  It  is 
said  that  in  after  years  he  found  much  fun  in  re- 
ferring to  his  Concord  experience,  and  was  fond 
of  exhibiting  the  egg-stained  coat  that  he  wore  on 
that  eventful  evening.  It  was  probably  Mr.  Whit- 
tier's  first  and  last  visit  to  Concord.  It  was  the 


Centennial  Home  for  the  Asred 


Odd  Fellows'  Home 


Wayside   Jottings  35 

most  disgraceful  event  that  ever  occurred  on  this 
street.  And,  by  the  way,  George  Kent  was  a 
brother  of  Edward  Kent  of  Bangor,  Me.,  who  in 
the  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too"  campaign  of  1840. 
was  elected  governor  of  the  Pine  Tree  State,  and 
whose  election  was  announced  in  the  famous  and 
expressive  couplet: 

Maine  went  hell  bent 
For  Governor  Kent. 

Then  there  is  the  Odd  Fellows'  Home,  another 
institution  which  has  been  the  means  of  helping 
the  old  and  needy  members  of  that  fraternity  in 
their  journey  on  the  down  hill  of  life.  The  Merri- 
mack  County  jail  is  not  exactly  on  the  line  of  this 
street,  though  nearly  so.  It  is  more  of  a  penal 
than  a  philanthropic  institution,  and  will  probably 
be  a  necessity  so  long  as  human  nature  is  what  it 
is,  or  till  the  dawn  of  the  millennium. 

It  must  have  been  an  oak  grove  that  William 
Cullen  Bryant  had  in  mind  when  he  declared  in 
one  of  his  poems  that  ' '  The  groves  were  God 's  first 
temples."  Though  the  oak  grove  on  the  line  of 
Pleasant  Street,  standing  on  the  grounds  of  the 
Odd  Fellows'  Home,  has  been  thinned  out  some- 
what by  the  cutting  down  of  the  decayed  trees,  yet 
it  is  still  a  beautiful  grove  and  we  doubt  if  there 
is  a  finer  one  in  Concord.  Here,  as  is  well  known, 
is  where  Gen.  Franklin  Pierce  planned  to  build  a 
residence  in  which  to  spend  the  last  years  of  his 
life.  "Man  proposes,  and  God  disposes,"  is  the 
old  adage,  and  the  tragic  death  of  an  only  son  in 


36  Wayside   Jottings 

a  railway  accident  in  Andover,  Mass.,  in  the  fall 
of  1852,  shortly  before  General  Pierce  was  elected 
president  of  the  United  States,  changed  all  of  these 
plans.  This  grove  fronts  on  the  east  end  of  the 
boulevard,  which  Concord  would  probably  never 
had  but  for  the  public  spirit  evinced  by  Mary 
Baker  G.  Eddy,  in  bearing  a  good  part  of  the  ex- 
pense of  its  construction.  One  result  of  this  im- 
provement was  the  re-laying  out  of  the  street,  near 
this  point,  so  that  there  are  two  reverse  curves  in 
it,  which  adds  to  its  beauty.  There  is  a  line  of 
fence  in  front  of  the  grounds  of  Pleasant  View,  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  part  of  it  being  of  iron,  and 
a  part  of  substantial  wooden  rails  and  stone  posts, 
that  suggests  durability  as  well  as  appropriateness. 
Such  an  expensive  line  of  fence  is  seldom  seen  out- 
side the  limits  of  the  compact  part  of  a  town  or 
city. 

The  view  from  a  point  on  the  line  of  this  street, 
to  the  east  of  Pleasant  View,  and  which,  by  the 
way,  is  rightly  named,  is  a  fine  one.  There  is  an 
open  stretch  of  country  to  the  east,  south  and  west, 
so  that  at  least  parts  of  eights  towns  in  Merrimack 
and  Hillsborough  counties  are  to  be  seen.  These 
include  the  hills  of  Chichester,  Pembroke.  Epsom 
and  Allenstown  to  the  east,  and  Bow  and  Dunbar- 
ton  to  the  south  and  west;  while  elevations  in 
Weare  and  Francestown  are  also  visible.  From 
"Rum  Hill,"  an  elevation  in  the  rear  of  Prof. -John 
F.  Kent's  residence,  a  more  extensive  view  is 
obtained  and  probably  as  many  as  a  dozen  towns 
are  visible. 


State  Library 


Hi.-  Old  State  II..U-  • 


Wayside   Jottings  37 

VI. 

There  were  seven  " standing"  garrisons  and  three 
temporary  ones  erected  for  the  protection  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Rumford  in  the  years 
1733-1746,  from  the  incursions  of  the  Indians. 
One  of  these  was  located  near  the  junction  of  the 
old  Hopkinton  Road,  now  known  as  Pleasant  Street, 
and  the  highway  leading  to  Dunbarton.  The  in- 
scription on  the  granite  tablet,  placed  on  or  near 
the  site  of  this  garrison,  is  as  follows : 

Site  of 

RUMFORD  GARRISON 
No.  4 

Around  House  of 

JONA  EASTMAN 

To  Which  Were  Assigned 

May  15,  1746 

Eight  Settlers 
With  Their  Families. 

The  sites  of  the  other  garrisons  have  similar 
tablets,  and  their  locations  were  as  follows:  The 
Rev.  Timothy  Walker  Garrison  on  the  east  side  of 
North  Main  Street,  near  the  residence  of  Joseph  B. 
Walker;  the  Lieut.  Jeremiah  Stickney  Garrison, 
on  the  east  side  of  North  Main  Street,  near  the 
site  of  the  new  Stickney  block,  near  Bridge  Street ; 
the  Timothy  Walker,  Jr.,  Garrison,  on  the  west 


88  Wayside   Jottings 

side  of  South  Main  Street,  near  its  junction  with 
Thorndike  Street;  the  Deacon  Joseph  Hall  Gar- 
rison, near  the  junction  of  Hall  and  Water  Streets; 
the  Henry  Lovejoy  Garrison,  at  the  West  Parish, 
on  the  Levi  Hutchins  farm;  the  Capt.  Ebenezer 
Eastman  Garrison,  near  the  site  of  the  railroad 
station,  East  Concord.  These  were  the  "stand- 
ing" or  permanent  garrisons.  The  three  others, 
or  temporary  garrisons,  were  the  Edward  Abbott 
Garrison,  on  the  corner  of  North  Main  and  Mont- 
gomery Streets,  the  house  still  standing ;  the  James 
Osgood  Garrison,  at  the  junction  of  North  Main 
and  Depot  Streets,  on  the  site  of  the  First  National 
Bank ;  and  the  George  Abbott  Garrison,  on  Fayette 
Street,  near  its  junction  with  South  Main  Street. 
It  would  seem  that  the  different  sections  of  the 
town  were  well  protected  from  Indian  attacks. 
When  the  noble  red  man  of  the  forest  was  on  the 
war  path  for  scalps,  the  settlers  and  their  families, 
belonging  to  these  respective  garrisons,  left  their 
own  houses  and  repaired  thither.  Men  labored  in 
the  field  in  parties,  with  guns  at  hand,  and  not 
unfrequently  with  a  mounted  guard.  Three  alarm 
guns  from  a  fort  announced  approaching  Indians, 
and  put  the  settlement  on  its  guard. 

These  garrisons  greatly  contributed  to  the  safety 
of  the  first  residents  of  Rumford.  and  were  a  good 
illustration  of  the  old  adage  that ' '  an  ounce  of  pre- 
vention is  worth  a  pound  of  cure."  For  without 
this  protection  they  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth  in  the  in- 


Wayside   Jottings  39 

cursions  of  the  St.  Francis  Indians,  and  the  town 
would  have  been  the  scene  of  a  wholesale  massacre, 
before  which  the  Bradley  massacre  would  have 
paled  into  insignificance.  The  writer  is  not  aware 
that  these  Canadian  Indians  ever  made  an  attack 
on  any  of  these  garrisons.  The  Indian 's  character- 
istics were  cunning  and  deceit,  treachery  and  re- 
venge, and  acted  on  the  old  adage  that  "discretion 
was  the  better  part  of  valor,"  consequently  their 
usual  method  of  attack  was  by  ambush,  and  not  on 
a  garrison,  where  they  would  meet  with  a  warm 
reception.  Though  there  were  exceptions,  of 
course,  yet  in  the  times  of  the  colonies,  at  least, 
General  Sherman  was  not  far  from  right  when 
he  affirmed  that  "the  only  good  Indian  was  a  dead 
one." 

In  volume  1,  page  171,  of  the  new  "History  of 
Concord,"  there  is  a  picture  of  the  Rev.  Timothy 
Walker  Garrison  at  the  North  End,  which  is  prob- 
ably a  good  illustration  of  the  other  garrisons  in 
the  settlement.  It  represents  the  people  issuing 
forth  from  it  on  Sunday  for  the  purpose  of  "goin' 
to  meetin'."  Rev.  Timothy  Walker  is  in  the  van, 
with  his  gun  in  one  hand  and  the  Bible  in  the 
other,  the  men  armed,  and  acting  as  guard  to  the 
women  of  the  company.  When  they  arrived  at  the 
log  meeting  house,  itself  a  fort,  near  the  corner  of 
North  Main  and  Chapel  Streets,  the  custom  was  to 
stack  their  muskets  where  they  could  readily  get 
them,  and  they  performed  their  worship  with 
powderhorn  and  bullet  pouch  slung  over  their 


40  Wayside   Jottings 

shoulders,  while  Mr.  Walker  stood  his  gun,  said  to 
be  the  best  in  town,  beside  him  in  the  pulpit,  while 
he  preached  the  old  theology.  Perhaps,  like  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers: 

' '  They  shook  the  depths  of  the  desert  gloom  with 
their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer. ' ' 

But  these  "depths"  were  not  shaken  by  the  sing- 
ing of  a  quartette  choir,  with  an  organ  accompani- 
ment. And  it  is  certain  that  they  could  not,  in 
their  prayers,  express  their  thankfulness  that  they 
could  worship  God  "with  none  to  molest  or  make 
afraid."  It  is  hard  to  realize  that  such  a  state 
of  affairs  existed  here  one  hundred  and  sixty  years 
ago. 

This  picture  is  also  a  good  representation  of  how 
the  Walker  house  looked  surrounded  by  a  fort. 
It  was  built  of  hewn  logs,  laid  flat  on  each  other, 
with  ends  fitted  for  the  purpose  and  inserted  in 
grooves,  set  in  large  posts  erected  at  each  corner. 
The  walls  of  the  fort  were  built  to  the  height  of 
the  roof  of  the  dwelling  around  which  it  was 
reared,  and  was  surmounted  at  two  or  more  corners 
with  sentinel  boxes. 

Indian  lore  is  quite  interesting,  though  it  is  some- 
times rather  grewsome  reading,  as  those  who  have 
read  Theodore  Roosevelt's  "Winning  of  the  West" 
will  readily  admit.  The  government  of  the  Indians, 
the  writer  understands,  at  least  of  those  who  in- 
habited New  England,  was  of  a  patriarchal  form; 
that  is,  some  family  commonly  took  a  precedence 
over  the  others ;  the  oldest  son  having  absolute  gov- 


Wayside   Jottings  41 

eminent  over  the  region  inhabited  by  a  tribe,  he 
receiving  the  title  of  sachem  or  sagamore.  Those 
"noble  red  men  of  the  forest,"  Passaconaway, 
Wonolancet  and  Tahanto,  were  sachems  of  the 
Pennycooks.  They  "were  true  and  tried  friends 
of  the  English  in  prosperity  and  adversity,"  and 
no  garrisons  were  ever  needed  for  the  protection 
of  the  early  settlers  in  the  plantation  of  Penny- 
cook  and  the  town  of  Rumford  from  any  attack 
from  this  tribe  of  Indians. 

VII. 

Suppose  we  retrace  our  steps  for  a  half  a  mile 
or  more,  from  the  site  of  Rumford  Garrison,  No.  4, 
on  our  ramble  towards  Hopkinton  village,  till  we 
reach  the  ' '  Bradley  monument, ' '  so  called,  on  which 
is  briefly  told  the  fate  of  five  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Rumford,  the  most  tragic  event  that  ever  occurred 
in  the  old  town  nearly  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
years  ago.  Though  this  event  is  probably  as  famil- 
iar as  a  twice-told  tale  to  life-long  residents  of  Con- 
cord, we  are  not  writing  for  their  enlightment ;  but 
possibly  to  some  of  the  younger  generation  of  our 
readers,  now  coming  on  the  stage  of  action,  it  may 
be  of  interest. 

As  is  well  known,  on  the  morning  of  August  11, 
1746  (old  style),  eight  of  the  inhabitants  of  Rum- 
ford  started  out  for  a  visit  to  Rumford  Garrison, 
No.  4,  near  which  the  father  of  one  of  the  number, 
Seaborn  Peters,  lived.  Their  names  were  Samuel 


42  Wayside   Jottings 

Bradley,  Jonathan  Bradley,  John  Bean,  John  Luf- 
kin,  Alexander  Roberts,  William  Stickney,  Daniel 
Oilman  and  Obadiah  Peters.  They  started  from 
the  home  of  Samuel  Bradley,  where  M.  Hazen 
Bradley,  a  great-grandson  of  Samuel  Bradley,  now 
lives  (since  deceased),  passed  down  to  the  highway 
now  known  as  Franklin  Street;  thence  along  this 
road  to  the  highway  now  known  as  High  Street; 
thence  along  this  road  out  to  and  on  the  "old  Hop- 
kinton  Road,"  until  they  reached  the  vicinity  of 
the  Bradley  monument,  when  they  fell  into  an 
ambush  of  the  St.  Francis  tribe  of  Indians,  whose 
numbers  were  estimated  from  sixty  to  one  hundred. 
The  first  five  of  this  little  company 'were  killed  and 
scalped ;  Stickney  and  Roberts  were  taken  prisoners 
and  carried  to  Canada,  and  only  Oilman  escaped 
to  tell  the  tale.  As  Indians  were  seen  prowling 
around  a  day  or  two  previously,  it  has  always 
seemed  to  the  writer  that  these  men  were  some- 
what careless  in  going  out  to  the  Eastman  Garrison 
in  so  small  a  force  and  in  such  a  happy-go-lucky 
manner.  But  those  who  still  believe  in  the  old 
doctrine  of  foreordination  can  readily  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  so  to  be,  and  no  human  fore- 
sight availed  to  change  the  course  of  events.  There 
is  not  space  in  these  "Jottings"  to  give  a  detailed 
account  of  this  sad  affair,  which  the  younger  read- 
ers of  the  book  will  find  on  pages  175-178  of  the 
"History  of  Concord." 

In  "New  Hampshire  As  It  Is,"  written  by  Edwin 
A.  Charlton  and  published  in  1855,  it  is  stated  that 


Wayside   Jottings  43 

' '  a  granite  monument  was  erected  on  the  spot  where 
Bradley  and  his  associates  fell,  by  Richard  Bradley, 
a  grandson  of  Samuel  Bradley."  This  statement 
as  to  the  exact  location  of  the  monument  is  prob- 
ably incorrect,  for  in  the  "History  of  Concord"  it 
is  stated  that ' '  a  granite  shaft  was,  because  of  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  the  desired  site,  erected  a  few 
rods  east  of  the  scene  of  the  massacre,  and  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  road."  The  exact  "spot"  is 
probably  on  what  is  now  "Pleasant  View"  farm, 
owned  by  Mary  Baker  G.  Eddy,  near  a  brook  that 
aforetime  ran  through  this  tract  of  land,  but  which 
is  now  a  covered  drain. 

That  there  was  some  desperate  fighting  on  the 
fateful  August  morning  is  seen  in  the  statement 
that  Jonathan  Bradley  fought  for  dear  life,  and 
refused  to  give  or  take  quarter,  probably  preferring 
to  die  than  to  be  taken  prisoner  by  any  of  the  St. 
Francis  tribe  of  Indians,  whose  tender  mercies  were 
cruel.  The  result  of  the  fight  was  about  even,  so 
far  as  fatalities  were  concerned,  as  four  Indians 
were  killed  and  two  mortally  wounded. 

Upon  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  this  monu- 
ment, August  22,  1837  (new  style),  interesting 
exercises  were  held,  in  which  the  governor  of  the 
state  and  other  prominent  men  participated.  Asa 
McFarland,  then  editor  of  the  Statesman,  gave  an 
address,  and  a  hymn  was  sung,  written  by  Rev. 
John  Pierpont  of  Boston,  grandfather  of  J.  Pier- 
pont  Morgan.  Mr.  Pierpont  was  a  poet  of  no  mean 


44  Wayside   Jottings 

repute,  and  could  write  poetry  as  well  as  his  grand- 
son can  make  money.     The  hymn  read  as  follows: 

Not  now,  O  God,  beneath  the  trees 
That  shade  this  vale  at  night's  cold  noon 

Do  Indian  war-cries  load  the  breeze, 
Or  wolves  sit  howling  at  the  moon. 

The  foes,  the  fears  our  fathers  felt 

Have  with  our  fathers  passed  away; 
And  where  in  death's  dark  shade  they  knelt 

We  come  to  praise  Thee  and  to  pray. 

We  praise  Thee  that  Thou  plantedst  here 
And    mad'st  Thy   heavens   drop   down   their   dew, — 

We  pray  that  shooting  from  their  stem 
We  long  may  flourish  where  they  grew. 

And,   Father,  leave  us  not  alone; 

Thou  hast  been,  and  art  still,  our  trust. 
Be  Thou  our  fortress  till  our  own 

Shall  mingle  with  our  fathers'  dust. 

Continuing  our  ramble  by  the  tablet  that  marks 
the  site  of  the  Eastman  Garrison,  we  pass  within 
almost  a  stone's  throw  of  St.  Paul's  School,  on  our 
left,  most  of  the  buildings  being  on  the  line  of  the 
old  Dunbarton  road.  It  is  beautifully  situated, 
and  is  one  of  the  best  institutions  of  its  kind  in  the 
country.  Fifty  years  have  brought  marked  changes 
in  this  school,  from  the  time  when  Dr.  Henry  A. 
Coit  commenced  his  work  here  in  1858  with  three 
scholars,  in  the  summer  home  of  Dr.  George  C. 
Shattuck  of  Boston,  to  the  time  when  now  three 
hundred  or  more  boys  are  in  attendance.  We  also 
pass  by  Millville  Cemetery,  where  Doctor  Coit  is 


Wayside   Jottings  45 

quietly  resting  after  his  useful  life,  his  works  fol- 
lowing him  in  the  lives  of  the  St.  Paul's  scholars 
who  are  scattered  all  over  our  land.  If  there  was 
ever  a  man  who  lived  on  this  planet  who  followed 
the  example  of  the  Divine  Master  in  "going  about 
doing  good,"  Doctor  Coit  was  that  man.  Resi- 
dents of  Hopkinton  and  Dunbarton,  as  well  as  in 
Concord,  will  bear  testimony  to  his  visits  of  mercy 
and  good  will  in  homes  where  sorrow  and  death 
had  entered. 

VIII. 

North  Main  Street,  between  Pleasant  and  Bridge 
Streets,  has  been  substantially  rebuilt  since  the  mid- 
way years  of  the  last  century.  If  an  old  resident 
here  in  those  years  should  re-visit  Concord  and  take 
a  ramble  along  this  street,  he  would  hardly  know 
where  to  place  himself.  Fire  has  been  the  prime 
agent  in  making  this  change,  as  but  few  buildings 
have  been  demolished  to  make  way  for  better  ones. 
The  big  fire  of  August,  1851,  was  the  starter  in 
this  change ;  it  came  pretty  near  being  a  conflagra- 
tion, and  swept  away  all  the  blocks  and  other  build- 
ings on  the  east  side  of  the  street  between  the 
Stickney  block  on  the  north  and  Low's  block  on 
the  south,  and  from  the  line  of  the  street  to  the 
railroad  tracks  on  the  east.  It  was  a  clean  sweep, 
and  North  Main  Street  was  a  sorry  sight  to  behold 
the  next  morning  after  the  fire.  Those  were  the 
days  of  the  old  "hand  tubs,"  and  the  firemen 
worked  at  the  brakes  for  dear  life  and  earned  every 


46  Wayside   Jottings 

penny  that  they  received  as  pay.  When,  as  was 
sometimes  the  case,  the  water  in  the  reservoirs  gave 
out,  their  occupation,  for  the  time  being,  at  least, 
was  gone  and  they  were  forced  to  be  unwilling 
spectators  of  the  work  of  the  fire  fiend.  The  ad- 
vent of  Lake  Penacook  water,  along  with  the 
hydrant  service  and  the  steam  fire  engines,  changed 
this  condition  of  things  and  North  Main  Street  has 
not  greatly  suffered  from  the  ravages  of  fire  since 
that  time. 

Brick  and  mortar  have  supplanted  the  old  wooden 
buildings,  some  of  which,  from  the  manner  of  their 
construction,  were  termed  ''ten-footers,"  so  that  in 
the  whole  length  of  the  business  part  of  the  street 
there  are  only  three  or  four  wooden  buildings  re- 
maining on  the  west  side,  and  one  on  the  east 
side.  One  of  these  is  the  building  adjoining  the 
Masonic  Temple,  which  remains  substantially  the 
same  in  its  outside  appearance  as  it  did  in  the 
fifties,  when  David  G.  Fuller  kept  there  an  assort- 
ment of  liquors  on  sale.  In  the  second  story  of 
this  building  was  a  small  hall,  where  candidates 
were  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  ' '  Knownothing- 
ism,"  a  political  movement  in  the  fifties  that  helped 
to  change  the  complexion  of  New  Hampshire  poli- 
tics, and  the  change  has  substantially  continued 
till  the  present  day.  Then  there  is  the  structure, 
now  known  as  the  American  House,  opposite  Bridge 
Street,  which,  in  the  first  years  of  its  existence  was 
devoted  to  business  purposes;  while  in  the  third 
story  was  a  hall  occupied  by  the  Sons  of  Temper- 


Morrimaok  County  Court  House 


U.  S.  Government  Biiildinic 


Wayside   Jottings  47 

ance.  Going  along  the  street,  we  come  to  the 
locality  known  aforetime  as  "Smoky  Hollow." 
The  Lyster  Brothers  have  changed  for  the  better 
the  appearance  of  that  locality  by  tearing  down 
the  unsightly  buildings  and  erecting  the  Lyster 
block.  The  Lyster  market,  which  occupies  a  part 
of  this  block,  is  getting  to  be  one  of  the  institutions 
of  Concord.  A  visit  to  this  market,  at  almost  any 
hour  of  the  day,  shows  that  the  force  of  clerks  are 
busy  attending  to  the  wants  of  the  customers  that 
throng  thither. 

By  far  the  best  and  most  important  improvement 
made  in  a  public  building  on  the  line  of  North 
Main  Street  is  seen  in  the  recent  remodeling  and 
rebuilding  of  the  Merrimack  County  court  house. 
The  old  building  was  of  a  unique  and  somewhat 
unusual  style  of  architecture,  and  was  not  con- 
sidered "a  thing  of  beauty,"  which  is  said  to  be 
"a  joy  forever."  Just  what  style  of  architecture 
it  was,  the  writer  is  not  informed.  As  it  was  de- 
signed by  Joshua  L.  Foster,  it  might  be  termed  the 
Fosterian  style.  The  late  Asa  McFarland,  formerly 
editor  of  the  Statesman,  lived  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street  from  the  court  house,  and  the  writer 
remembers  that  his  criticisms  in  that  paper  on  the 
style  and  general  appearance  of  the  building  were 
not  very  flattering.  It  was  probably  an  eyesore  to 
him,  and  as  there  are  no  flies  on  the  present  struc- 
ture, either  in  its  outward  appearance  or  in  its 
internal  arrangements,  he  ought  to  have  lived  to 
see  it.  The  location  is  undoubtedly  the  best  one 


48  Wayside   Jottings 

on  the  line  of  North  Main  Street  for  a  public 
building,  and  the  North-Enders,  way  back  in  the 
early  years  of  the  last  century,  earnestly  desired 
to  have  the  state  house  located  there.  If  it  had 
been,  the  business  part  of  Main  Street  would  no 
doubt  have  been  in  that  vicinity,  and  the  North 
End  would  have  retained  its  original  prestige  as  a 
business  center. 

Continuing  our  ramble  a  few  rods  further,  to 
the  junction  of  North  Main  and  Chapel  Streets,  we 
come  to  a  spot  that  was  made  famous  in  the  annals 
of  the  old  town  by  the  erection  of  the  first  meeting 
house.  It  was  a  log  house,  where  the  worshipers 
were  liable  to  sudden  attacks  from  hostile  Indians, 
and  so  went  to  church  armed  with  their  guns  and 
prepared  to  repel  force  with  force.  It  was  a  good 
example  of  the  "church  militant."  Like  Crom- 
well's Ironsides,  "they  trusted  in  God  and  kept 
their  powder  dry."  A  great  contrast  between  the 
past  and  the  present  is  seen  in  the  fine  edifice  in 
which  the  same  church  organization,  the  North 
Church,  now  worships,  on  the  corner  of  North  Main 
and  Washington  Streets.  What  a  revelation  it 
would  be  if  some  of  the  first  settlers  of  Penacook 
could  revisit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon  and  note  the 
changes  that  have  taken  place  in  church  and  state 
in  the  old  town  since  they  shuffled  off  this  mortal 
coil!  They  could  also  contrast  the  old  theology 
with  the  new.  One  of  the  old-time  ministers  of  this 
church  was  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  who  for 
forty-two  years  occupied  its  pulpit.  He  was  with- 


Wayside   Jottings  49 

out  doubt  the  ablest  minister  in  Concord  in  his 
prime,  and  the  writer  used  to  like  to  hear  him 
preach.  His  sermons  were  "meaty,"  and  gave  one 
something  to  think  about.  Mr.  J.  0.  Lyford,  in 
his  chapter  in  the  new  "History  of  Concord"  on 
"Church  History,"  says:  "Dr.  Bouton's  min- 
istry was  'characterized  by  unity,  stability  and 
growth.  He  was  not  only  a  faithful  minister,  but 
a  citizen  of  acknowledged  influence  during  a  period 
of  growth  and  prosperity  in  Concord."  And  Wil- 
liam E.  Chandler,  on  Old  Home  Day  at  Contoocook 
River  Park,  in  August,  1904,  pays  this  tribute  to 
Doctor  Bouton's  memory:  "Learned,  laborious 
and  eloquent,  how  faithful  he  was  to  all  the  duties 
of  life!  How  well  I  recall  his  welcome  presence; 
with  kind  and  cordial  manner  and  speech." 

Mr.  W.  E.  Curtis'  letters  in  the  Chicago  Record- 
Herald  from  Concord,  republished  in  the  Monitor, 
are  interesting  reading,  as  he  is  a  past  master  as  a 
newspaper  correspondent.  But  he  is  somewhat  off 
his  base  in  his  statement  that  the  old  North  Church 
"was  torn  down  many  years  ago,"  although  he  is 
correct  in  saying  that  "it  was  replaced  by  a  large 
brick  structure,"  namely  the  "Walker  schoolhouse. 
It  is  the  writer's  recollection  that  this  old  church 
went  up  in  flame  and  smoke  on  the  night  of  Novem- 
ber 28,  1870;  and  it  is  also  his  recollection  that  it 
was  a  splendid  sight,  though  a  sad  one.  The  frame 
of  the  church  was  of  white  oak  timber,  and  after 
the  boards  that  covered  it  had  burned  away,  the 
frame-work,  from  the  sills  to  the  spire,  stood  out  in 


50  Wayside   Jottings 

clear  relief  as  any  set  piece  at  a  Fourth  of  July 
celebration  of  fireworks.  What  an  appropriate 
place  this  old  churcli  would  have  been  for  the  cele- 
bration of  Old  Home  Day !  And  what  a  pity  that 
such  a  structure  could  not  have  escaped  the  de- 
vouring flames!  It  stood  in  the  same  relation  to 
Concord,  in  its  historical  associations,  as  the  Old 
South  Church  does  to  Boston.  Henry  McFarland, 
in  his  "Sixty  Years  in  Concord  and  Elsewhere," 
says:  "There  are  remaining  in  New  Hampshire 
some  better  examples  of  colonial  architecture  than 
the  Old  North  Church,  but  it  was  more  dignified 
than  many  modern  religious  edifices." 

IX. 

Just  across  State  Street  from  the  site  of  the  Old 
North  Church,  now  occupied  by  the  Walker  school- 
house,  is  the  burial  ground  that  has  been  known  for 
years  as  the  "  Old  North  Cemetery. ' '  In  the  olden 
time  it  was  generally  the  custom  to  have  the  church 
and  the  cemetery  near  each  other,  and  probably 
the  church  was  changed  from  its  first  location  on 
North  Main  Street  so  as  to  be  contiguous  to  this 
"God's  Acre,"  as  the  ancient  Germans  termed  such 
places.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  proprietors  of 
the  "Plantation  of  Penacook,"  along  with  the 
erection  of  a  church,  was  the  selection  of  a  suitable 
place  for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  It  appears  from 
the  town  records  that  as  early  as  1730  a  committee, 
consisting  of  Henry  Rolfe,  John  Pecker  and  John 


Wayside   Jottings  51 

Chandler,  was  appointed  to  select  a  plot  of  land 
on  the  west  side  of  State  Street.  About  the  year 
1850  an  addition  was  made  to  this  cemetery  on  the 
west,  and  a  few  years  afterward  another  addition 
known  as  the  "Minot  Enclosure";  and  up  to  the 
year  1860  it  was  the  only  cemetery  open  to  Pro- 
testants in  the  compact  part  of  the  city. 

On  November  29,  1859,  the  city  council  pur- 
chased the  well-located  and  beautiful  grounds  for 
a  new  place  of  burial,  which  is  known  as  the  ' '  Blos- 
som Hill  Cemetery."  These  grounds  were  placed 
in  charge  of  a  committee  consisting  of  George  B. 
Chandler,  Enos  Blake  and  Joseph  B.  Walker. 
Under  the  direction  of  this  committee,  aided  by  the 
taste  and  skill  of  John  C.  Briggs,  civil  engineer, 
the  cemetery  was  laid  out  and  made  ready  for  its 
consecration,  July  13,  1860,  when  appropriate  exer- 
cises tok  place  in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse 
of  people.  The  assembly  was  called  to  order  by 
Joseph  B.  Walker,  who,  in  behalf  of  the  cemetery 
committee,  made  some  introductory  remarks,  in 
which  he  alluded  to  the  efforts  of  the  city  authori- 
ties to  secure  a  new  and  ample  rural  cemetery. 
Other  locations  had  been  examined  and  discussed, 
but  this  tract  of  land,  comprising  some  thirty  acres, 
was  selected  and  purchased  for  the  sum  of  $4,500. 
It  has  a  pleasing  variety  of  surface,  of  hill,  plain 
and  valley,  and  a  beautiful  stream  of  water  flows 
through  it.  In  its  topography  it  was  said  to  bear 
some  resemblance  to  that  of  ancient  Jerusalem.  It 
was  also  made  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  fix  on 


52  Wayside   Jottings 

a  name  for  the  cemetery.  A  number  had  been  sug- 
gested, among  them  that  of  Blossom  Hill,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  consecration  exercises,  it  was  voted, 
on  motion  of  Richard  Bradley,  that  it  should  be 
known  by  that  name. 

The  consecration  exercises  were  of  an  interesting 
character.  Most  of  the  Protestant  clergymen  in 
the  city  took  part  in  them.  The  Rev.  Elisha 
Adams,  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Church,  read 
the  Ninetieth  Psalm ;  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Cummings, 
D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  Pleasant  Street  Baptist  Church, 
offered  a  prayer  of  invocation;  the  hymn,  "Dear 
is  the  Spot  Where  Christians  Lie,"  was  read  by 
the  Rev.  C.  W.  Flanders,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  and  sung  by  a  select  choir ;  the  Rev.  H.  E. 
Parker,  pastor  of  the  South  Congregational  Church, 
read  some  Scripture  selections;  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Bouton,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  North  Congregational 
Church,  offered  a  prayer  of  consecration ;  the  hymn, 
"This  is  not  My  Place  of  Resting,"  was  read  by 
the  Rev.  J.  H.  Eames,  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Epis- 
copal Church ;  there  was  an  address  by  William  L. 
Foster,  Esq. ;  and  the  exercises  closed  with  the 
singing  of  the  doxology  and  a  benediction  by  the 
Rev.  C.  W.  Flanders. 

This  service  of  consecration  took  place  a  little 
over  forty-seven  years  ago,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  the  most  of  those  who  took  part  in  it  have 
passed  over  the  river,  and  are  sleeping  their  last 
sleep  in  Blossom  Hill  Cemetery  or  elsewhere.  The 
address  of  Mr.  Foster,  which  was  afterwards  pub- 


Concord  Hitch  Scti  >o| 


Wnnnla  licet  Club 


Wayside   Jottings  53 

lished,  was  able  and  eloquent.  It  was  written  and 
delivered  in  his  best  vein.  He  was  accustomed  to 
use  the  best  of  English  in  all  his  public  efforts,  and 
he  reminded  one  somewhat  of  Franklin  Pierce, 
another  of  Concord's  able  lawyers.  Speaking  of 
General  Pierce  reminds  the  writer  that  at  the 
funeral  of  his  wife,  who  died  at  Andover,  Mass., 
in  the  year  1863,  and  was  buried  in  the  Minot  En- 
closure, General  Pierce  walked  at  the  head  of  the 
procession  to  the  grave  leaning  on  the  arm  of 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  his  intimate  friend  and 
classmate  at  Bowdoin  College.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  not  long  afterwards  Hawthorne  died 
suddenly  at  Plymouth,  while  on  a  trip  with  General 
Pierce  to  the  White  Mountains. 

Mr.  Foster's  address  was  such  a  finely  written 
production  that  perhaps  some  of  the  older  readers 
of  the  "Jottings"  would  like  to  read  a  few  extracts 
from  it: 

"Today  we  found  this  City  of  the  Dead.  Be- 
hold, even  now,  its  broad  avenues,  its  narrower 
streets  and  paths  stretching  along  these  hillsides, 
winding  through  these  valleys!  Behold  already 
the  lines  and  boundaries  of  its  sacred  homesteads 
marked  out  upon  the  turf — household  sanctuaries, 
wherein  one  by  one,  day  after  day,  the  broken 
families  of  yonder  living  city  shall  be  gathered  to- 
gether. See,  here  and  there,  a  humble  dwelling 
already  located — a  lowly  dormitory,  already  own- 
ing its  pale  inhabitant!  And  swiftly  indeed  the 
months  and  years  are  rolling  on  which  shall"  present 


54  Wayside   Jottings 

to  the  traveler  upon  these  ways,  crowded  streets 
and  squares,  gleaming  with  fronts  of  granite  and 
marble. ' ' 


"But  a  rival  city  shall  this  be — at  last  triumph- 
ant. Yonder  flourishing  and  happy  town  shall 
send  forth  swift  delegations  from  her  midst  to 
populate  these  abodes,  until  not  one  shall  remain 
of  those  who  have  come  thence  to  this  day's  con- 
secration. Soon  shall  the  tottering  limbs  of  age  be 
here  composed  to  rest ;  that  blessed  rest  which  comes 
so  gratefully  when  the  long  struggle  of  life  is  done. 
Here,  too,  shall  be  assembled  the  gentle  and  beloved 
ones  of  earth;  the  wives  and  mothers,  daughters 
and  sisters ;  they  who  have  adorned  and  sanctified 
these  Christian  homes  with  the  presence  and  bless- 
ing of  womanly  charities  and  womanly  patience, 
with  lessons  of  faith,  with  labors  of  love,  with 
beauty  of  holiness.  And  here  shall  the  kindly  lap 
of  earth  receive  those  little  household  plants,  des- 
tined to  blossom  in  celestial  gardens,  'where  angels 
walk  and  seraphs  are  the  wardens.'  .  .  . 

"Thus,  my  friends,  we  may  come  to  love  this 
hallowed  spot,  and,  lingering  among  its  beauties, 
feel  that  it  is  good  for  us  ofttimes  to  be  here. 
The  loveliness  of  nature  groweth  not  old  nor  pass- 
eth  away.  How  gorgeous  soever  may  be  the  royal 
chamber  of  catacomb  or  pyramid,  adorned  with 
marble  work  and  frescoes,  bright  with  golden 
lamps,  fragrant  with  smoking  censors,  dreariest 
ruin,  dust  and  darkness  must  fall  upon  it.  But  the 


Wayside   Jottings  55 

beauty  and  the  grandeur  of  the  rural  cemetery  are 
renewed  year  by  year  and  day  by  day.  Soft  airs 
of  the  sweet  springtime  shall  breathe  freshness 
upon  it,  and  autumn  shall  cover  these  graves  with 
her  mantle  of  friendly  leaves.  Even  the  all-en- 
veloping snows  of  winter  shall  shield  and  protect 
the  turf  'from  blighting  frosts,  and  wintry  winds 
shall  murmur  through  the  branches  of  the  trees, 
sunlight  shall  gladden  the  scene  by  day,  and  the 
beautiful  lamps  of  the  sky  shall  go  not  out  by 
night." 

The  conclusion  of  Mr.  Foster's  address  is  as 
follows : 

"Come,  then,  oh,  blessing  of  heaven!  Descend 
and  dwell  upon  this  beautiful  place  of  the  dead! 
From  lightning  and  tempest  protect  and  defend  it ! 
Drop,  heavenly  dews  and  sweet,  refreshing  showers, 
upon  the  grass,  and  keep  it,  like  the  memory  of 
those  who  shall  sleep  beneath,  fragrant  and  green 
forever!  Bring  flowers,  fresh  flowers,  and  cast 
them  with  tender  hand  upon  these  mounds,  to 
speak  in  beautiful  language  of  love  enduring  and 
of  faith  triumphant!  Let  pyramid  and  column 
and  sculptured  cross  and  graven  cherubim  point  to 
God  and  testify  of  immortality ! ' ' 

X. 

A  former  resident  on  the  east  side  of  South  Main 
Street  wishes  that  the  writer  had  made  some  men- 
tion in  the  Wayside  Jottings  of  the  residents  on 


56  Wayside   Jottings 

that  side  of  the  street  away  back  in  the  fifties. 
There  was  no  intention  to  slight  or  to  ignore  that 
side  of  the  street,  but  that  communication  was  only 
intended  to  refer  to  the  west  side  of  it.  There  has 
been  quite  a  change  in  the  appearance  of  the  east 
side,  mainly  in  the  section  between  Freight  Street 
and  the  vicinity  of  Chandler  Street.  South  of 
Lee's  block  there  has  been  little  change,  but  like 
the  west  side  of  the  street,  there  has  been  an  almost 
complete  change  in  this  time  in  the  residents. 

Supposing  we  start  on  our  ramble  at  the  old 
store,  just  north  of  the  old  Butters'  Tavern.  This 
store  for  years  has  been  known  as  an  old-fashioned 
country  store — West  India  goods  and  groceries 
being  a  chief  feature.  Here,  if  the  writer  has  been 
correctly  informed,  was  where  the  late  Charles 
Hutchins  traded  for  some  years,  his  residence  being 
on  the  corner  of  South  Main  and  Thorndike  Streets, 
where  his  nephew,  Charles  Hutchins  Thorndike, 
resides;  afterwards  it  was  occupied  by  George  F. 
Whittridge,  Henry  C.  Sturtevant,  George  B.  Whitt- 
ridge,  Lewis  B.  Hoit  &  Co.  and  others.  Just 
north  of  this  store  is  the  brick  store  which  has  been 
occupied  for  some  years  by  George  B.  Whittridge, 
son  of  G.  F.  Whittridge. 

Going  up  the  street,  we  come  a  little  further 
north  to  two  tenement  blocks,  one  on  the  line  of 
the  street,  and  one  in  the  rear.  If  the  writer  is 
correctly  informed,  these  blocks  were  constructed 
out  of  material  that  came  from  the  Concord  Acad- 
emy when  it  was  torn  down,  and  which  stood  on 


Wayside   Jottings  67 

' '  Sand  Hill, ' '  near  what  is  now  known  as  Academy 
Street.  On  an  alley,  leading  from  Main  Street  to 
the  railroad,  is  an  old  house,  which  Joseph  B. 
Walker,  in  the  new  "History  of  Concord,"  terms 
the  "box-trap"  style  of  architecture,  it  being  two 
stories  in  front  and  one  story  in  the  rear.  Prob- 
ably this  old  house  dates  back  to  the  colony  days 
of  George  III.  The  writer  is  not  aware  of  any 
other  house  like  it  in  Concord,  though  on  the  main 
road  in  Hopkinton  there  are  two  that  remain  as 
they  were  in  former  years. 

Going  further  north  of  this  alley,  we  come  to  a 
spacious  home  built  by  Hon.  Isaac  Hill,  a  governor 
of  the  state  away  back  in  the  thirties.  At  the  time 
of  its  erection  it  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best 
residences  in  Concord.  In  late  years  it  has  had 
rather  a  checkered  experience  and  has  been  used  as 
a  "boarding  and  tenement  house. 

Just  north  of  the  Hill  house  is  the  house  where 
the  late  Franklin  Low  lived  till  the  death  of  his 
first  wife,  who  was  Miss  Mary  Hutchins,  daughter 
of  George  Hutchins,  who  lived  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street.  North  of  the  Low  house  was  the 
home  of  George  H.  Hutchins,  a  flour  and  grain 
merchant  and  the  father  of  Capt.  Hamilton 
Hutchins,  commander  of  the  Kearsarge,  now  on  its 
long  trip  to  the  Pacific. 

This  was  written  when  the  battleships  of  the 
fleet  were  on  their  trip  around  the  world. 

There  are  one  or  two  old  houses  left,  north  of 
the  Hutchins  house,  but  from  the  Lee  block  to 


68  Wayside   Jottings 

Freight  Street  the  appearance  of  the  east  side  of 
the  street  is  completely  changed  from  what  it  was 
in  the  fifties,  save  the  Pickering  house,  where  in 
those  days  James  L.  Mason,  for  some  years  a  fore- 
man at  the  Abbot-Downing  Company,  resided.  The 
writer  remembers  Mr.  Mason  as  a  great  reader, 
who  could  give  information  on  matters  pertaining 
to  ancient  history.  The  change  in  the  appearance 
of  this  side  of  the  street  was  made  some  years  ago 
by  the  building  of  the  carriage  manufactory,  then 
belonging  to  Harvey,  Morgan  &  Co.;  the  Ford 
&  Kimball  foundry;  the  Concord  machine  shop; 
and,  in  the  line  of  dwellings,  by  the  erection  of  the 
residences  of  Josiah  E.  D wight,  Leland  A.  Smith 
and  Edson  J.  Hill.  On  the  site  of  these  residences 
was  where  William  Gault  lived,  an  old-time  mer- 
chant of  Concord.  The  house  was  moved  on  to  the 
south  side  of  Hill's  Avenue  and  was  torn  down  a 
few  years  ago,  and  on  its  site  was  erected  the  apart- 
ment block,  owned  by  the  "Hill  Associates." 

Just  north  of  the  Hill  residence  was  the  home  of 
Nathan  Farley.  Some  of  the  older  readers  of  the 
Jottings  will  remember  it  as  a  long,  rambling,  one- 
story  red  house  in  front  and  two  stories  in  the  rear, 
where  Mr.  Farley  for  some  years  had  a  marble  shop, 
Nathan  Farley  was  probably  the  pioneer  in  the 
grave  stone  and  monument  business  in  Concord, 
and  no  doubt  specimens  of  his  work  can  be  found 
in  the  various  cemeteries  in  Merrimack  County  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  state.  The  site  of  this  house 
and  the  buildings  north  of  it  would  be  a  good 


Wayside   Jottings  59 

place  to  erect  an  auditorium,  such  as  is  needed  in 
Concord. 

When  we  come  to  the  square,  bounded  by  South 
Main  Street,  Pleasant  Street  Extension,  Railroad 
Square  and  Freight  Street,  we  find  that  it  is  almost 
entirely  changed  in  its  appearance  from  what  it 
was  in  the  fifties.  On  the  site  of  the  Cummings 
block  was  the  residence  of  Isaac  Frye  Williams,  an 
old-time  Concord  merchant.  On  the  site  of  the 
Colonial  block  was  the  home  and  office  of  Dr. 
Alpheus  Morrill,  father  of  Dr.  Ezekiel  Morrill  and 
the  late  Dr.  Shadrach  C.  Morrill.  Dr.  Alpheus 
Morrill,  we  believe,  was  the  first  homeopathic 
physician  to  locate  in  Concord.  He  had  a  large 
practice  in  all  parts  of  the  city.  On  the  site  of 
the  Blanchard  block  was  the  home  and  office  of 
Dr.  Ebenezer  G.  Moore,  who  was  a  physician  of  the 
"old  school"  and  who,  like  Doctor  Morrill,  had  a 
large  practice.  The  term  "the  beloved  physician" 
might  well  be  applied  to  each  of  these  two  men,  and 
there  are  many  of  the  older  residents  of  our  city 
who  will  remember  them  for  their  service  in  times 
of  sickness. 

The  rest  of  this  square  is  covered  by  new  build- 
ings, save  the  house  on  the  corner  of  Pleasant  Street 
Extension  and  Railroad  Square.  The  other  new 
buildings  in  this  square  are  the  Railroad  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  building  and  the  Mor- 
rill block. 

The  writer  has  often  thought  what  a  fine  place 
this  square  would  have  been  for  a  small  park  or 


60  Wayside    Jottings 

common.  As  it  is  now,  in  the  central  part  of  the 
city,  we  are  dependent  on  the  state  for  a  park. 

White  Park  and  Rollins  Park  are  beautiful  spots 
and  are  all  right,  but  they  are  at  some  distance 
from  the  business  part  of  the  city. 

The  hindsight  of  the  town  fathers  away  back 
in  the  thirties  was  a  good  deal  keener  than  their 
foresight.  This  was  evident  in  the  rejection  of 
the  offer  by  Hon.  William  A.  Kent  of  a  tract  of 
land  bounded  by  Pleasant,  Rumford,  School  and 
North  Spring  Streets  for  a  park,  to  be  known  as 
"Rumford  Park."  Any  one,  by  walking  through 
those  streets,  can  see  what  a  grand  park,  centrally 
located,  it  would  have  made. 

XI. 

It  was  a  thoughtful  act  on  the  part  of  the  Con- 
gregational Union  of  Concord  in  erecting  a  granite 
tablet  to  commemorate  the  first  religious  service 
in  central  New  Hampshire,  held  under  heaven's 
canopy  before  a  dwelling  had  been  reared  in  which 
to  live.  It  stands  near  Sugar  Ball  bluff,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Merrimack,  on  land  given  by  Dr. 
Alfred  E.  Emery,  and  which  is  known  as  "Memo- 
rial Park. ' '  The  inscription  on  this  tablet  tells  the 
whole  story : 

"On  the  intervale  below  this  spot,  a  committee 
of  the  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  their  surveyors 
and  attendants,  there  present  to  locate  and  survey 
the  Plantation  of  Penacook,  conducted  the  first 


The   Rmnford  Press  Building! 


Wayside   Jottings  61 

religious  service  ever  held  in  the  central  part  of 
New  Hampshire  on  Sunday,  May  15,  1726,  Rev. 
Enoch  Coffin,  preacher. 

' '  Erected  by  the  Congregational  Societies  of  Con- 
cord, October,  1899." 

It  would  be  interesting  if  there  had  been  a  news- 
paper reporter  present  at  that  time  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  this  service.  Those  were  days  before  the 
newspapers,  and  we  shall  have  to  let  our  fancy 
picture  the  scene.  Perhaps  like  Mrs.  Heman  's  Pil- 
grims at  Plymouth  Rock: 

They   shook   the   depths   of  the   desert   gloom 
With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer. 

But  it  is  an  inspiring  thought  that  the  early 
pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  the  old  town  recog- 
nized their  Creator,  and  devoted  the  first  Sabbath 
passed  within  its  borders  to  acts  of  worship  on  the 
banks  of  the  Merrimack. 

This  locality,  which  we  suppose  may  be  consid- 
ered a  part  of  East  Concord,  is  also  famous  from 
the  fact  that  here  was  fought  a  fierce  battle  between 
the  Mohawks  and  the  Penacooks,  between  whom 
there  was  a  deadly  feud.  As  the  writer  under- 
stands it,  the  Penacooks  were  naturally  peace- 
loving,  and  the  Mohawks  were  generally  spoiling 
for  a  fight.  Whittier  in  his  poem,  "The  Bridal  of 
Penacook,"  has  given  us  a  description  of  their 
character. 

In  their  sheltered  repose,  looking  out  from  the  wood, 
The  bark-builded  wigwams  of  Penacook  stood. 


62  Wayside   Jottings 

There    glided    the    corn-dance,   the    council-fire    shone, 
And   against   the   red-plbst   the   hatchet   was    thrown. 
There  the  old  smoked  in  silence  their  pipes,  and  the 

young 

To  the  pike  and   the   perch  their  baited  lines   flung; 
There  the   boy   shaped  his  arrows  and   there   the   shy 

maid 
Wove    her    many-hued    baskets    and    bright    wampum 

braid. 

It  seems  that  the  Penacooks,  while  peace-loving, 
also  acted  on  the  motto,  ' '  In  time  of  peace,  prepare 
for  war. ' '  And  so  they  had  erected  three  forts  for 
their  defence.  One  was  near  Sewall's  Island;  one 
on  the  bank  of  the  Merrimack,  near  Fort  Eddy 
Plain ;  while  the  principal  and  strongest  fort,  occu- 
pying the  best  position  of  the  three,  near  the  crest 
of  Sugar  Ball  bluff,  was  built  for  a  special  defence 
against  the  Mohawks ;  and  connected  with  this  fort 
is  the  story  of  the  battle,  coming  down  to  us 
through  Indian  tradition.  As  a  precaution,  the 
Penacooks  had  withdrawn  their  men,  women  and 
children  within  this  fort,  where  baskets  of  newly- 
harvested  corn  were  stored  for  their  use  in  case  of 
a  siege.  It  was  a  time  of  mutual  watchfulness, 
where  one  party  was  afraid  and  the  other  daresn't. 
The  Penacooks  did  not  dare  to  fight  out  in  the 
open,  while  the  Mohawks  were  afraid  to  attack  the 
fort.  At  last  the  former  were  drawn  out  of  the 
fort  by  strategy,  and  a  fierce  battle  ensued.  Tra- 
dition does  not  definitely  tell  us  the  result  of  it. 
It  leaves,  however,  the  inference  that  it  was  an 
indecisive  battle,  in  which  both  sides  suffered 


Wayside   Jottings  63 

severely,  and  the  prowess  of  the  Penacooks  was 
greatly  weakened,  as  they  were  less  war-like.  If 
this  battle  had  occurred  in  later  years  it  might  have 
well  been  termed  a  "Concord  Fight,"  though  no 
"embattled  farmers"  were  there,  and  no  shots  were 
"heard  'round  the  world,"  as  the  fighting  was 
probably  done  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  at  close 
quarters  with  tomahawks. 

Turtle  Pond  is  the  largest  pond  in  East  Concord, 
covering  an  area  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  and  Mill  Brook  furnishes  an  outlet  for  it 
into  the  Merrimack.  This  stream  is  a  little  over 
two  miles  in  length,  but  in  this  distance  there  is  a 
fall  of  about  one  hundred  feet  and  on  it  are  three 
mill  privileges.  The  early  settlers  of  Penacook 
were  quick  to  see  the  advantages  of  this  stream,  and 
as  far  back  as  the  year  1729  one  of  these  privileges 
was  utilized  for  the  first  sawmill  and  also  for  the 
first  grist-mill  erected  within  the  plantation.  This 
was  a  great  boon  to  the  early  settlers,  as  the  saw- 
mill furnished  them  material  to  build  frame  houses, 
instead  of  those  made  of  logs ;  and  they  could  carry 
their  "grist"  to  mill,  instead  of  using  the  more 
primitive  method  with  mortar  and  pestle. 

As  the  writer  understands  it,  upon  Mill  Brook 
were  located  the  first  shingle  and  clapboard  mills 
in  Concord,  and  as  Robert  Eastman,  the  inventor 
of  them,  was  a  native  of  East  Concord,  they  may 
have  been  the  first  in  operation  in  the  country. 
These  mills  revolutionized  the  method  of  preparing 
the  lighter  form  of  building  for  the  outside  of 


64  Wayside   Jottings 

houses,  as  the  sawmill  had  previously  done  in  pre- 
paring the  timber  for  frames  and  the  boarding. 
Prior  to  the  invention  of  these  machines,  the 
shingles  and  clapboards  were  all  handmade.  They 
were  first  "rifted"  or  split  out  of  the  old  growth 
pine  that  in  former  years  grew  so  abundantly  in 
the  forests.  After  being  rifted,  they  were  shaved 
out  by  hand  by  men  who,  like  the  ' '  rif ters, ' '  became 
quite  expert  in  working  up  in  this  way  the  raw 
material.  The  shingles  would  be  split  out  so  near 
the  pattern  that  but  little  shaving  was  needed  to 
finish  them.  This  kind  of  shingle,  on  account  of 
the  excellent  quality  of  the  stock  and  the  smooth- 
ness of  the  surface,  lasted  a  good  deal  longer  than 
those  sawed  by  machines,  so  that  the  former  kind 
have  been  known  to  have  been  on  the  roofs  of 
houses  for  at  least  forty  years  before  they  needed 
renewing. 

There  was  considerable  prejudice  at  first  against 
these  machines  on  the  part  of  the  rifters  and 
shavers,  as  there  has  been  against  almost  all  new 
inventions;  but  one  thing  that  favored  their  intro- 
duction and  use  was  the  fact  that  old  growth  pine 
of  perhaps  two  centuries  or  more  in  age  was  fast 
disappearing  and  pine  that  would  rift  well  was 
becoming  scarce.  Like  the  boatmen  on  the  Merri- 
mack,  in  later  days,  when  the  iron  horse  made  its 
appearance,  their  occupation  was  gone;  and  while 
there  are  no  old-fashioned  shingles  now  to  be  seen 
on  the  roofs  of  the  farm-houses,  the  handmade  clap- 
boards are  sometimes  seen  in  evidence  on  these 


Wayside   Jottings  65 

houses.  The  writer  recently  saw  such  a  house, 
probably  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  stand- 
ing near  Turkey  Falls,  oil  the  old  Dunbarton  Road. 
It  was  never  painted,  save  by  the  weather-brush  of 
time,  and  it  reminds  him  of  the  home  of  Gen.  John 
Stark  that  was  situated  near  the  Reform  School  in 
Manchester,  and  which  he  visited  some  years  ago, 
before  it  went  up  in  flame  and  smoke. 

The  most  prominent  landmark  that  is  visible  as 
one  passes  down  Pond  Hill  and  along  the  highway 
leading  around  Horseshoe  Pond,  is  the  steeple  of 
the  East  Congregational  Church.  This  church  was 
dedicated  in  the  year  1842.  The  architect  was 
Jacob  A.  Potter,  an  East  Concord  man.  It  is  said 
that  the  frame  of  the  bell  tower,  like  that  of  the  old 
North  Church,  is  of  white  oak,  and  the  timber  was 
given  by  Gen.  Isaac  Eastman,  who  also  fashioned 
the  weather-vane.  There  are  some  homely  church 
steeples  or  towers  in  Concord  (the  writer  does  not 
care  to  say  where  they  are  located),  but  the  steeple 
on  this  church  is  not  one  of  them.  In  fact,  we 
rather  like  its  style,  and  it  is  a  reminder  of  former 
days.  It  is  the  only  one  in  town  that  remains  of 
those  whose  spires  pointed  heavenward,  say  sixty 
odd  years  ago.  All  the  rest  have  either  gone  up  in 
flame  and  smoke — six  churches  having  been  burned 
— or  they  have  been  remodelled  and  rebuilt.  An 
old  resident  here  in  the  forties,  returning  to  Con- 
cord would  not  recognize  one  of  them ;  and  the  old 
eagle  that  stands  watch  and  ward  over  the  state 
house  is  about  the  only  thing  remaining  to  remind 


66  Wayside   Jottings 

one  of  the  old  cupola.  Concord  has  been  fruitful 
in  the  changes  that  have  been  made  in  the  public 
buildings. 

There  is  an  interesting  fact  in  connection  with 
the  location  of  this  East  Concord  Church.  Its  site 
on  upper  Penacook  Street  seems  to  be  out  of  the 
more  compact  part  of  the  hamlet.  But  there  was 
a  reason  for  the  selection  of  this  site,  and  it  was 
that  as  it  increased  in  population,  it  would  be  the 
most  central  part  of  the  village.  Along  in  the 
thirties,  great  expectations  were  entertained  by 
people  in  regard  to  the  development  of  Se wall's 
Falls  and  the  canals  leading  from  it,  these  falls 
being  about  two  miles  north  of  the  village.  In 
Henry  McFarland  's  interesting  chapter  in  the  new 
"History  of  Concord,"  on  "Canals,"  he  gives  a 
very  clear  account  of  these  projects,  which  gave 
rise  to  great  expectations  concerning  the  future  of 
East  Concord.  He  says:  "The  purpose  of  the 
Sewall's  Falls  Company,  which  controlled  the 
water  power  at  Sewall  's  Falls,  was  to  build  a  canal 
about  two  and  a  half  miles  long  from  a  point  on 
the  river  near  Federal  bridge,  to  an  inlet  above 
the  falls.  Besides  this  service  to  navigation,  this 
canal  was  to  provide  power  where  it  was  estimated 
that  the  drop,  at  ordinary  stages  of  the  water, 
would  be  sixteen  feet.  It  was  intended  to  con- 
struct two  water  courses  to  lead  off  easterly  from 
the  main  channel,  and  between  these  would  be 
situated  mills  needing  power.  After  performing 
this  useful  office,  the  water  was  to  run  out  by  a 


Wcvyside   Jottings  67 

raceway  to  the  Mill  Brook  valley.  It  was  esti- 
mated that  there  would  be  power  enough  to  drive 
twenty-three  mills  of  5,000  spindles  each."  This 
plan,  if  carried  out,  would  make  East  Concord 
almost  a  second  Lowell. 

This  was  certainly  a  great  project  on  paper,  but, 
like  other  schemes  of  mice  and  men,  it  came  to 
naught.  The  building  of  a  railroad  through  the 
valley  of  the  Merrimack  was  probably  the  death 
blow  to  canals  and  to  other  enterprises  on  paper. 
In  this  connection,  we  might  refer  to  the  great 
expectation  in  the  early  years  of  the  last  century 
of  the  permament  location  of  the  state  capital  in 
Hopkinton  village,  which  was  unexpectedly  knocked 
in  the  head  by  its  location  in  Concord.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  what  would  be  the  condition 
of  things  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack  if  James 
Watt  had  never  discovered  the  power  of  steam  or 
George  Stephenson  had  never  invented  the  loco- 
motive. 

Probably  the  most  ancient  landmark  that  greets 
the  eye  as  one  passes  over  Federal  bridge  is  the 
dwelling  that  bears  on  its  gable  the  legend  "Elm- 
Croft,"  and  of  which  Col.  J.  Eastman  Pecker  is 
the  owner.  It  was  the  home  of  his  ancestors  and 
was  built  in  the  year  1755  by  Philip  Eastman. 
The  writer,  on  invitation  of  Colonel  Pecker,  visited 
this  house  a  few  years  ago,  and  was  well  repaid 
for  so  doing.  While  the  main  house  is,  on  account 
of  its  age  and  interior  arrangements,  an  interesting 
structure,  an  addition  has  been  made  to  the  rear 


68  Wayside   Jottings 

of  the  house  and  contains  in  the  second  story  one 
of  the  finest  private  libraries  in  this  section  of  the 
state.  Colonel  Pecker  is  a  noted  collector  of  old 
and  rare  books  and  pamphlets,  being  something  of 
a  bibliomaniac,  and  this  library  is  a  monument  of 
his  labors  in  that  direction.  As  before  stated,  this 
house  was  built  in  1755  by  Philip  Eastman.  It 
was  the  home  of  Jeremiah  Pecker  from  1779  to 
his  death  in  1843,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years, 
and  was  the  home  of  his  widow,  Mary  Eastman 
Pecker,  from  the  time  of  her  second  marriage,  in 
1822,  till  her  death  in  1882,  aged  ninety-one  years. 
Capt.  Jeremiah  Pecker,  a  minute  man  in  the  war 
of  1812,  was  a  son  of  Maj.  James  Pecker,  M.  D., 
of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  a  surgeon  in  the  Continental 
Army,  and  who  died  at  Valley  Forge  in  1778.  Col. 
J.  E.  Pecker  is  a  great,  great  grandson  of  Philip 
Eastman  and  a  grandson  of  Jeremiah  Pecker. 

XII. 

Oliver  Goldsmith's  tribute  to  "Sweet  Auburn" 
as  "the  loveliest  village  of  the  plain"  might  per- 
haps apply  equally  as  well  to  the  suburban  hamlet 
of  East  Concord.  Goldsmith  could  probably  have 
found  as  much  happiness  to  the  square  foot  in  this 
locality  if  it  had  been  his  early  home,  as  on  his 
native  heath,  and  of  which  he  says : 

Where  health  and  plenty  cheered  the  lab'rlng  swain, 
Where  smiling  Spring  its  earliest  visit  paid, 
And  parting  Summer's  ling'ring  blooms  delayed. 


Wayside   Jottings  69 

The  original  name  for  this  section  was  "The 
Fort,"  from  the  fact  that  in  the  early  settlement 
of  Penacook  one  was  built  there  by  some  Scotch- 
Irish,  as  the  record  says,  on  the  intervale,  "within 
eighty  rods  of  Sewall's  farm.  This  farm  was  a 
part  of  the  five  hundred  acre  grant,  known  as  the 
'Endicott  Grant,'  and  was  surveyed  and  laid  out 
in  the  year  1668.  The  title  to  this  tract  of  land 
having  been  sold  by  Governor  Endicott  to  John 
Hull,  the  wealthy  mint  master  of  Massachusetts, 
and  he  dying,  his  daughter  Hannah,  and  her  hus- 
band, Samuel  Sewall,  the  famous  judge  in  the 
Salem  witchcraft  days,  petitioned  the  Great  and 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  the  year 
1695,  that  this  tract  of  land  might  be  confirmed  to 
them,  and  the  prayer  was  granted.  '  Sewall 's 
Farm'  was  the  first  grant  of  land  that  was  made 
under  the  authority  of  Massachusetts  in  Pena- 
cook." 

The  territory  of  Penacook  early  attracted  atten- 
tion as  a  desirable  place  for  a  settlement,  and  as 
a  result  there  was  considerable  of  a  tangle  in  regard 
to  the  grants  of  land  that  were  made  by  different 
parties.  Prof.  Amos  Hadley,  in  Chapter  Two  of 
the  new  "History  of  Concord,"  has  unravelled 
this  tangle  in  as  plain  a  manner  as  it  could  be  done, 
and  it  is  well  worth  reading  by  anyone  who  desires 
to  be  informed  in  regard  to  the  early  history  of  our 
city  and  the  conditions  surrounding  the  first  set- 
tlers. It  also  appears  that  the  "Scotch-Irish,"  of 
whom  mention  has  been  made,  was  another  dis- 


70  Wayside   Jottings 

turbing  element  that  vexed  the  souls  of  the  first 
settlers.  They  had  a  holy  horror  of  the  Irish,  and 
did  not  discriminate  very  closely  between  those  of 
Catholic  affiliations  and  those  of  Protestant  views 
who  were  stalwart  Presbyterians.  It  is  pretty  safe 
to  affirm  that  there  was  never  any  love  lost  between 
an  Englishman  and  an  Irishman,  even  if  the  latter 
did  have  an  infusion  of  Scotch  blood  in  his  veins. 
And  in  former  times  more  than  in  the  present,  the 
respective  slogans  of  these  combative  races  seemed 
to  be: 

I  can  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman, 

(Or  an  Irishman). 
I  must  and  will  have  some. 

It  was  in  1719  that  sixteen  famib'es  of  Scotch- 
Irish  Presbyterians  made  a  settlement  in  Nutfield, 
afterwards  known  as  Londonderry.  Some  of  these 
new  comers,  who  were  of  an  adventurous  turn  of 
mind,  began  to  look  for  more  room,  as  their  num- 
bers were  increased  by  new  immigration,  and  they 
cast  longing  eyes  on  the  fertile  intervales  of  Pena- 
cook.  Then  there  occurred  another  tangle  in  re- 
gard to  conflicting  grants  of  land,  and  which  Mr. 
Hadley  has  also  unravelled.  This  "Fort,"  to  which 
allusion  is  made,  was  built  in  the  year  1724,  the 
year  before  the  Plantation  of  Penacook  was  granted 
to  Benjamin  Stevens  and  others.  As  the  Scotch- 
Irish  had  obtained  a  foothold  in  Londonderry,  the 
grantees  of  the  settlement  feared  that  they  would 
also  obtain  one  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  it 


Wayside   Jottings  71 

would  be  difficult,  as  they  expressed  it,  "to  root 
them  out."  "There  were,  however,"  as  Mr. 
Hadley  says,  "more  words  than  blows  on  the 
Merrimack  at  that  time,"  and  the  final  upshot  of 
the  matter  was  "the  Irish  people"  shook  oil  the 
dust  from  their  feet  and  left  for  a  more  congenial 
location;  possibly  they  were  the  ones  who  made 
the  settlement  on  Dunbarton  Hill.  It  was  at  this 
fort  that  Colonel  Tyng  and  his  scouting  party, 
bound  for  Lake  Winnipesaukee  in  pursuit  of 
Indians,  made  their  quarters,  on  April  5  and  6, 
1725.  That  it  was  a  late  spring  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  they  could  not  travel  without  injuring 
their  provisions,  as  the  snow  was  deep. 

Probably  the  Merrimack  from  its  source  to  its 
mouth  was  never  shallow  enough  to  be  forded. 
As  the  early  settlers  of  Penacook  lived  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  the  primitive  way  of  crossing 
it  was  first  by  a  canoe,  and  later  by  ferry.  There 
were  at  least  three  of  these  ferries  in  operation  at 
various  times,  owned  by  private  parties. 

There  was  a  ferry  at  the  South  End,  near  Water 
Street,  known  as  Merrill's  ferry,  owned  by  Deacon 
John  Merrill;  one  owned  by  Benjamin  Kimball, 
known  as  Kimball's  ferry,  which  crossed  the  river 
from  Hale's  Point  to  Sugar  Ball  and  reached  by 
Ferry  Road,  now  Ferry  Street. 

Tucker's  ferry,  owned  by  Lemuel  Tucker,  crossed 
the  river  near  the  site  of  the  old  Federal  bridge, 
and  accommodated  the  dwellers  of  East  Concord, 
known  aforetime  by  the  designation  of  "Over  the 


72  Wayside   Jottings 

River, ' '  while  a  section  of  the  intervale,  a  half  mile 
above  Federal  bridge,  embracing  the  farms  of 
Samuel  B.  Locke,  John  Locke,  Samuel  B.  Larkin 
and  Henry  S.  Thatcher  was  known  as  "Christian 
Shore."  Just  why  that  name  was  given  to  this 
locality,  the  writer  is  not  informed. 

For  some  sixty  years  after  the  settlement  of  the 
town  the  river  was  crossed  upon  the  ice  in  the 
winter,  and  by  the  ferries  at  other  seasons  of  the 
year.  The  first  bridge  built  across  the  Merrimack 
in  Concord  was  the  Concord  bridge  at  the  South 
End,  opened  for  travel  on  October  29,  1705.  This 
superseded  the  Merrill  ferry.  Three  years  after 
this  the  Federal  bridge  at  East  Concord  was  com- 
pleted, and  this  bridge  superseded  the  Tucker 
ferry.  Since  that  time  five  bridges  have  been 
erected  at  this  point  to  take  the  place  of  those  that 
have  from  time  to  time  been  swept  down  stream 
or  partially  destroyed  by  the  big  freshets  that 
aforetime  visited  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack  and 
converted  the  river  into  a  second  Mississippi.  The 
sixth  and  last  bridge  was  constructed  in  the  year 
1872,  during  the  administration  of  Mayor  John 
Kimball.  It  was  built  with  special  reference  to 
endurance,  like  all  the  structures  of  a  public  char- 
acter that  were  constructed  during  Mr.  Kimball's 
term  of  service. 

Unlike  the  ferries  which  were  owned  by  indi- 
viduals, the  Concord  and  Federal  bridges  were 
each  constructed,  owned  and  managed  by  a  com- 
pany, and  were  known  as  "toll  bridges."  Th- 


Wayside   Jottings  73 

members  of  the  Federal  Bridge  Company  were 
Timothy  Walker,  Benjamin  Emery,  William  Part- 
ridge, Jonathan  Eastman  and  Joshua  Thompson. 
It  continued  as  a  toll  bridge  for  a  series  of  years, 
or  until  some  time  in  the  forties,  when  it  became, 
by  purchase  of  the  town,  a  free  bridge,  like  its 
neighbor  down  the  river,  which  was  first  con- 
structed in  the  thirties  and  took  the  place  of  the 
Kimball  ferry. 

The  charter  for  this  bridge  provided  that  "for 
purpose  of  reimbursing  said  proprietors,  the  money 
expended  by  them  in  building  and  supporting  said 
bridge,  a  toll  be,  and  hereby  is  granted  and  estab- 
lished for  the  benefit  of  the  proprietors,  according 
to  the  rates,  following,  namely,  for  each  foot  pas- 
senger, one  cent;  for  each  horse  and  rider,  three 
cents;  for  each  horse  and  chaise,  sulky  or  other 
riding  carriage  drawn  by  one  horse  only,  ten  cents ; 
for  each  riding  sleigh  drawn  by  one  horse,  four 
cents ;  for  each  riding  sleigh  drawn  by  more  than 
one  horse,  six  cents;  for  each  coach,  chariot, 
phaeton  or  other  four-wheeled  carriage  for  passen- 
gers drawn  by  more  than  one  horse,  twenty  cents; 
for  each  curricle,  twelve  cents;  for  each  cart  or 
other  carriage  or  burthen  drawn  by  two  horses,  ten 
cents;  and  three  cents  for  every  additional  beast; 
for  each  horse  or  neat  creature,  exclusive  of  those 
rode  or  in  carriages,  two  cents;  for  sheep  and 
swine,  one-half  cent  each ;  and  to  each  team  one 
person  and  no  more  shall  be  allowed  as  a  driver  to 
pass  free  of  toll. ' ' 


74  Wayside   Jottings 

XIII. 

No  doubt  the  ideal  as  well  as  the  scriptural  way 
of  conducting  and  maintaining  public  worship  on 
the  Sabbath,  especially  in  a  rural  community,  is 
for  all  the  people  to  meet  in  one  place,  on  a  com- 
mon level — "the  rich  and  the  .poor  together  "- 
and  realizing  in  its  full  significance  the  truth  that 
"the  Lord  is  the  Maker  of  them  all."  This  was 
the  method  in  vogue  in  New  Testament  times;  it 
was  the  way  in  the  early  Puritan  days  of  New 
England,  and  it  has  always  been  the  Catholic  way. 
It  is  the  only  way  to  realize  the  full  force  of  the 
old  adage,  "In  union  there  is  strength." 

For  about  ninety  years  after  the  settlement  of 
Concord,  or  until  the  formation  of  the  Baptist  and 
Unitarian  churches,  in  the  year  1818,  followed  by 
the  formation  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  1825, 
it  was  the  way  that  was  in  vogue  in  the  town  of 
Concord.  After  this  time  all  the  people  of  the 
Congregational  faith  and  persuasion  continued  to 
worship  in  the  "Old  North,"  till  the  year  1832, 
when  the  West  Concord  Church  was  formed.  It 
is  said  that  there  were  two  main  reasons  for  its 
formation ;  one  was  that  the  Old  North  parish  had 
become  so  large  that  no  one  man  could  rightly  per- 
form the  pastoral  duties;  another  reason  was  that 
the  average  distance  traveled  by  those  who  came 
from  the  direction  of  West  Concord  to  the  Sunday 
service  was  about  five  miles,  and  so,  for  their 
accommodation,  there  was  a  general  desire  in  that 


Wayside   Jottings  75 

section  to  have  a  house  of  worship  nearer  their 
homes. 

Accordingly,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  year  1832, 
one  hundred  and  two  members  were  dismissed  from 
the  North  Church,  to  form  what  is  now  known  as 
the  West  Church;  and  for  seventy-seven  years  it 
has  been  the  only  .church  in  that  section  of  the  town 
— the  only  one,  in  fact,  that  was  ever  needed — and 
thus  setting  a  good  example  for  other  hamlets  in 
the  state  to  follow,  where  there  are  too  many 
churches  struggling  for  existence.  And  thus,  on 
the  formation  of  this  church,  the  name  of  "West 
Parish"  was  given  to  that  part  of  the  city  now 
known  more  familiarly  as  West  Concord. 

The  first  minister  of  the  West  Church  was  the 
Rev.  Asa  P.  Tenney,  who  served  in  that  capacity 
for  thirty-four  years — a  pastorate  that  was  only 
exceeded  in  length  by  those  of  Rev.  Timothy 
Walker  and  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  who  served, 
respectively,  fifty-two  and  forty-two  years.  Prior 
to  his  becoming  pastor,  Mr.  Tenney,  like  the  Rev. 
Robert  Collyer  of  New  York  City,  learned  and  for 
a  while  followed  the  trade  of  blacksmith  in  the 
town  of  Haverhill.  Having  a  desire  to  preach  the 
gospel,  he  fitted  himself  for  the  ministry.  It  is 
said  that  "he  was  an  intensely  practical  man," 
and  in  following  the  trade  of  blacksmith  he  prob- 
ably gained  a  knowledge  of  horses  that  served  him 
in  good  stead  when  in  need  of  it.  Being  a  good 
judge  of  horseflesh,  no  one  was  ever  known  to  get 
the  better  of  him  in  a  trade.  It  is  doubtful  if  even 


76  Wayside   Jottings 

a  David  Harum  could  have  done  it.  It  does  not 
in  any  way  disqualify  a  man  for  the  ministry  to 
be  the  lover  of  a  good  horse  and  to  be  a  judge  of  his 
good  points,  or  how  to  meet  the  wiles  of  some  (not 
all)  horse  jockeys.  He  probably  kept  in  mind,  in 
dealing  with  them,  the  scriptural  injunction  to  be 
"wise  as  a  serpent  and  harmless  as  a  dove." 

To  an  outsider  who  passes  through  West  Con- 
cord village  on  the  electrics,  it  seems  to  be  the 
abode  of  a  thrifty  class  of  people,  dwelling  in  com- 
fortable homes,  to  whom  poverty  is  an  unknown 
visitor.  It  strikes  one  in  its  appearance  as  being 
more  picturesque  than  beautiful;  and  well  it  may 
be  so,  as  it  is  situated  almost  under  the  shadow  of 
"rock-ribbed"  Rattlesnake  arid  naturally  partakes 
somewhat  of  the  roughness  of  a  hill  whose  supply 
of  building  granite  is  probably  inexhaustible. 
And  it  was  very  appropriate  that  the  second  West 
Church,  which  took  the  place  of  a  former  one 
destroyed  by  fire,  should  be  constructed  of  West 
Concord  granite,  and  it  also  furnished  an  object 
lesson,  close  at  hand,  in  the  line  of  this  kind  of 
building  material. 

XIV. 

West  Concord  has  furnished  two  men  in  their 
first  terms  of  service  as  mayors  who  were  faithful 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  people:  John  Abbott, 
in  the  years  1856,  1857,  1858,  and  Moses  Hum- 
phrey, in  the  years  1861,  1862.  They  were  emi- 
nently practical  men,  and  all  who  knew  them 


Wayside   Jottings  77 

respected  them  for  their  honesty  and  their  enter- 
prise. Perhaps  the  latter  trait  of  character  was 
more  plainly  seen  in  the  case  of  Mayor  Humphrey, 
for  his  term  of  service  came  in  the  first  two  years 
of  the  Civil  War,,  when  extra  duties  devolved  upon 
him  in  the  care  of  the  soldiers  who  went  to  the 
front;  and  in  his  second  term  of  service,  in  the 
year  1865,  when  they  came  back  in  greatly  reduced 
numbers. 

At  the  age  of  seventy-three  years,  when  most 
men  feel  like  retiring  from  active  life,  he  began 
operations,  in  the  face  of  some  opposition,  first  in 
the  construction  of  a  horse  railroad  through  West 
Concord  to  Penacook,  and  afterwards  in  the  in- 
stallation of  the  electrics.  There  is  probably  no 
other  seven-mile  trolley  ride  in  the  state  that  is 
more  interesting,  in  the  variety  of  its  views,  than 
from  South  Main  Street,  Concord,  to  Penacook, 
and  on  to  Contoocook  Park.  An  old  timer  going 
over  this  route  might  contrast  the  great  comfort 
and  improvement  in  this  method  of  traveling, 
especially  in  the  summer  time,  with  the  old  lumber- 
ing stage  coach,  that  used  to  go  over  this  route, 
before  the  era  of  railroads,  from  the  north  country 
to  the  "Hub  of  the  Universe." 

Away  back  in  the  thirties,  before  a  railroad  in- 
vaded central  New  Hampshire,  when  transporta- 
tion by  canal  boats  for  a  good  share  of  the  year 
seemed  to  be  the  most  feasible  way  of  getting  from 
one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  a  project  for 
a  canal  was  set  on  foot  to  connect  the  Merrimack 


78  Wayside  Jottings 

with  the  Connecticut.  Another  canal  was  to  run 
through  West  Concord  and  was  to  have  the  name 
of  the  Contoocook  Canal."  "It  was  to  leave  the 
Contoocook  River,  either  near  Horse  Hill  bridge  or 
at  the  Borough,  and  coming  down  through  West 
Concord  village,  past  Blossom  Hill  Cemetery,  by 
the  old  prison,  and  through  the  section  west  of 
State  Street,  was  to  enter  the  Merrimack  either  at 
Turkey  River  or  at  a  point  about  half  a  mile  above 
Concord  bridge.  Surveys  for  the  canal  were  made 
by  James  Hayward  and  Benjamin  Parker  and 
estimates  were  made  as  to  its  cost.  It  was  to  be 
eighteen  feet  wide  at  its  bottom  and  to  have  a  fall 
from  the  Contoocook  to  the  terminus  of  Turkey 
River  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet. 
"This  project,"  it  was  said,  "was  opposed  natur- 
ally by  those  owning  mill  privileges  on  the  Con- 
toocook on  the  point  whence  the  canal  would  de- 
part, and  by  others  interested  at  Sewall's  Falls; 
so  that  it  came  to  naught,  and  as  not  a  spadeful 
of  earth  was  turned  in  its  behalf,  it  has  been  well- 
nigh  forgotten." 

If  West  Concord  has  been  famed  for  nothing 
else,  it  would  have  been  honor  enough  to  have  the 
city's  water  supply  situated  within  its  limits.  In 
one  sense,  Lake  Penacook  is  of  more  importance  to 
Concord  than  old  Rattlesnake,  for  while  we  might 
possibly  get  along  without  quarrying  the  granite 
out  of  its  "rock-ribbed"  sides,  we  could  not  get 
along  without  the  pure  water  that  flows  under  our 
streets  from  this  lake.  Concord  would  not  be  a 


Penacook  Lake— City's  Water  Supply 


The  Country  Club 


Wayside   Jottings  79 

very  desirable  place  for  a  residence  in  a  sanitary 
point  of  view  if  some  convulsion  of  nature  should 
cut  off  the  supply  of  water. 

Down  in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  there  is  a  sheet  of 
water  which  bears  some  resemblance  to  Lake  Pena- 
cook  in  its  situation  and  history.  It  is  situated  in 
the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,  is  the  source,  we  be- 
lieve, of  Haverhill 's  water  supply,  and  some  years 
ago  its  name  was  changed  to  Lake  Kenoza.  On  the 
occasion  of  this  change  of  name  there  was  a  celebra- 
tion at  which  John  G.  Whittier  read  a  poem.  As 
the  Indian  name  of  Penacook  was  substituted  some 
years  since  for  "Long  Pond;"  as  Lake  Kenoza 
was  changed  from  "Great  Pond,"  the  writer 
thought  that  it  would  be  very  appropriate,  with 
merely  a  change  in  the  name,  to  apply  the  lines 
of  this  poem  to  our  own  lake.  If  Whittier  were 
alive,  we  are  sure  that  he  would  not  object  to  this 
application  of  it;  and  if  he  did  not  object,  no  one 
else  need  to.  It  is  rather  long,  but  it  is  a  gem 
in  its  way,  and  we  give  it  in  full : 

LAKE    PENACOOK. 

As  Adam  did  in  Paradise, 

Today  the  primal  right  we  claim, 

Fair  mirror  of  the  woods  and  skies, 
To  give  to  thee  a  name. 

Lake  of  the  pickerel,  let  no  more 

The  echoes  answer  back  "Long  Pond," 

But  sweeter  Penacook  from  thy  shore 
And  watching  hills  beyond. 


80  Wayside   Jottings 

Let  Indian  ghosts,  if  such  there  be. 
Who  ply  unseen  their  shadowy  lines, 

Call  back  the  ancient  name  to  thee, 
As  with  the  voice  of  pines. 

The  shores  we  trod  as  barefoot  boys. 
The  nutted  woods  we  wandered  through. 

To  Friendship,  Love  and  Social  Joys 
We  consecrate  anew. 

Here  shall  the  tender  song  be  sung, 
And  Memory's  dirges,  soft  and  low; 

And  wit  shall  sparkle  on  the  tongue, 
And  mirth  shall  overflow. 

Harmless  as  summer  lightning  plays 
From  a  low,  hidden  cloud  by  night, 

A  light  to  set  the  hills  ablaze, 
But  not  a  bolt  to  smite. 

In  sunny  South  and  prairied  West 
Are  exiled  hearts  remembering  still, 

As  bees  their  hive,  as  birds  their  nest, 
The  homes  of  Concordville. 

They  join  us  in  our  rites  today; 

And,  listening,  we  may  hear  ere  long 
From  inland  lake  and  ocean  bay 

The  echoes  of  our  song. 

Penacook!     O'er  no  sweeter  lake 
Shall  morning  break  or  noon  cloud  sail ; 

No  fairer  face  than  thine  shall  take 
The  sunset's  golden  veil. 

Long  be  it  ere  the  tide  of  trade 
Shall  break  with  harsh-resounding  din 

The  quiet  of  thy  banks  of  shade, 
And  hills  that  fold  thee  in. 


Wayside   Jottings  81 

Thy  peace  rebuke  our  feverish  stir, 

Thy  beauty  our  deforming  strife; 
Thy  woods  and  waters  minister 

The  healing  of  thy  life. 

And  sinless  mirth,  from  care  released, 

Behold,  unawed,  thy  mirrored  sky, 
Smiling  as  smiled  on  Cana's  feast  • 

The  Master's  loving  eye. 

And  when  the  summer  day  grows  dim, 
And  light  mists  walk  thy  mimic  sea, 

Revive  in  us  the  thought  of  Him 
Who  walked  on  Galilee! 


XV. 

In  looking  at  the  bird's-eye  view  of  Penacook  as 
given  in  D.  Arthur  Brown's  history  of  that  village, 
one  is  impressed  with  the  thought  that  years  ago 
it  might  have  been  the  nucleus  or  center  of  another 
town,  instead  of  being  known  as  "Ward  One," 
Concord.  This  ward,  with  portions  of  Boscawen, 
Canterbury  and  perhaps  Webster,  would  have 
made  one  of  the  most  enterprising  towns  in  the 
county.  As  we  characterized  West  Concord  as 
more  picturesque  than  beautiful,  so  the  same  might 
be  said  of  Penacook,  and  the  term  romantic  might 
be  added  to  that  part  of  the  village  through  which 
the  Contoocook  rushes  headlong  and  seemingly 
anxious  to  join  the  waters  of  the  Merrimack, 
having  a  fall  of  about  one  hundred  feet  within  the 
limits  of  one  and  a  half  miles. 

One  of  the  original  proprietors  was  Henry  Rolfe, 

6 


82  Wayside   Jottings 

who  acquired  a  stretch  of  land  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Contoocook  extending  from  the  Merrimack 
to  the  Borough.  The  early  records  state  that  one 
of  Henry  Rolfe's  descendants,  Benjamin  Rolfe, 
settled  here  in  1758.  The  first  settlers  who  settled 
on  the  ^north  side  of  the  Contoocook  in  Boscawen 
came  from  Newbury,  Mass.,  in  1734.  One  of  these 
was  Stephen  Gerrish,  who  settled  on  the  intervale 
and  established  the  first  ferry  between  Boscawen 
and  Canterbury,  having  the  same  location  as  the 
present  bridge  between  these  two  towns. 

Over  at  the  Borough  the  first  settler  was  Joseph 
Walker,  who  built  himself  a  log  house  for  his 
habitation  about  the  year  1750. 

The  Indians  not  being  desirable  neighbors,  he 
remained  there  but  a  short  time.  Richard  Elliot 
was  the  next  settler,  who  came  about  the  year 
1760.  Two  brothers,  Jonathan  and  Benjamin 
Elliot,  also  settled  there,  the  former  in  1768,  the 
latter  in  1778.  The  Borough  was  the  residence 
of  a  centenarian,  Mrs.  Lydia  Elliot,  who  died  June 
24,  1856,  aged  one  hundred  and  three  years.  The 
first  sawmill  was  built  at  the  Borough  by  Richard 
Elliot  about  the  year  1760.  The  first  grist-mill 
was  built  by  Abel  Baker  in  1789,  on  the  outlet; 
and  to  it  people  came  from  all  directions,  bringing 
their  grists  in  bags  on  their  shoulders  and  on  horse- 
back, as  there  were  no  roads  and  wagons  were 
unknown. 

The  first  mill  which  marked  the  beginning  of 
the  woolen  manufacturing  industry,  was  built  by 


Wayside   Jottings  83 

Richard  Kimball  and  Jeremiah  Abbott  about  the 
year  1800.  It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  for  the 
farmers  to  carry  their  wool  to  this  mill,  where  it 
was  carded  into  rolls;  the  rolls  were  then  taken  to 
the  farm  houses,  where  the  women  spun  the  rolls 
into  yarn  and  wove  the  yarn  into  cloth  on  hand 
looms,  and  thus  clothed  their  families.  Thus  the 
manufacture  of  woolens  dates  back  more  than  one 
hundred  years.  Another  sawmill  was  built  at  the 
lower  falls  by  Nathaniel  Rolfe.  It  was  constructed 
by  Benjamin  Kimball,  a  noted  millwright  in  those 
days,  the  father  of  John  and  Benjamin  A.  Kimball, 
and  no  doubt  they  inherited  their  skill  in  mechani- 
cal construction  from  their  father.  The  elder  Kim- 
ball did  a  good  work  in  building  dams  and  thus 
developing  the  water  power  that  was  used  in  run- 
ning the  saw  and  grist  mills. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  village  it  was  a  place 
where  large  quantities  of  lumber  was  drawn  and 
the  land  now  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railroad  station 
was  used  for  depositing  logs  and  sawed  lumber. 
The  lumber  was  made  into  rafts,  floated  down  the 
river  to  Lowell,  and  through  the  Middlesex  canal 
to  the  Boston  market.  In  fact,  this  for  some  years 
was  the  leading  industry  of  the  village,  the  busi- 
ness being  carried  on  mainly  by  the  Rolfe  and 
Gage  families  at  the  lower  falls,  and  by  the  Elliot 
and  Morrill  families  at  the  upper  falls.  The  sur- 
rounding towns  contributed  of  their  forests,  mainly 
of  the  old  growth  pines  of  large  dimensions  and 
for  which  the  valley  of  the  Contoocook  was  justly 
noted. 


84  Wayside   Jottings 

It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  some  one  family 
has  the  most  to  do  in  building  up  a  manufacturing 
village.  This  is  seen  in  the  history  of  the  Ames 
family  at  Easton,  and  the  Draper  family  at  Hope- 
dale,  Mass.  In  the  case  of  the  village  of  Penacook 
(known  aforetime  as  Fisherville,  so  named  for  the 
Fisher  brothers,  who  built  the  first  cotton  mill), 
the  Brown  family  were  the  pioneers  in  the  manu- 
facture of  cotton  goods,  and  the  firm  name  for  a 
series  of  years  was  H.  H.  &  J.  S.  Brown.  They 
came  from  Attleboro,  Mass.,  in  1841,  and  began 
making  cotton  goods  in  1843.  The  machinery  for 
their  mill  was  brought  up  on  canal  boats  from 
Lowell  as  far  as  Concord,  and  then  hauled  on 
wagons  to  the  mill.  This  firm  of  brothers  con- 
tinued in  a  partnership  business  until  1863,  when 
it  was  dissolved  and  the  property  divided,  H.  H. 
Brown  taking  the  mill  known  as  the  Contoocook 
mill,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  J.  S.  Brown 
the  mill  on  the  east  side,  known  as  the  Penacook 
mill.  The  former  took  his  sons,  Henry  F.  Brown 
and  D.  Arthur  Brown,  into  the  business  with  him, 
while  the  latter  continued  in  the  cotton  manu- 
facturing business  until  1885,  when  he  sold  out 
his  mill  to  the  Contoocook  Manufacturing  &  Ma- 
chine Co.  Henry  H.  Brown  died  in  September, 
1873 ;  John  S.  Brown  died  some  years  later.  It  is 
not  intended  in  these  Jottings  to  give  a  complete 
history  of  the  manufacturing  industries  of  Pena- 
cook, but  only  the  earliest  ones  to  which  it  is  in- 
debted for  its  growth  and  prosperity. 


Wayside   Jottings  85 

When  the  writer  was  attending  school  at  Colby 
Academy  in  the  fifties,  Henry  F.  and  D.  Arthur 
Brown,  brothers,  and  sons  of  H.  H.  Brown,  and 
William  I.  Brown,  a  cousin,  son  of  J.  S.  Brown, 
were  in  attendance  there  as  scholars.  They  were 
all  good  scholars,  and  all  of  them  served  in  the 
Civil  War.  William  I.  Brown  was  attending 
Brown  University  when  the  war  broke  out,  and 
joined  a  military  company  composed  of  college 
students  known  as  the  University  Cadets,  being  the 
first  to  sign  the  roll.  He  afterwards  began  re- 
cruiting for  the  Ninth  New  Hampshire  Regiment, 
New  Hampshire  Volunteers.  He  filled  various 
positions  from  second  lieutenant  to  major,  was  in 
the  battles  of  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Fred- 
ericksburg,  Spottsylvania,  and  was  killed  at  Fort 
Stedman  in  March,  1865,  a  short  time  before  the 
close  of  the  war. 

XVI. 

Just  how  many  men  Concord  sent  to  the  front 
during  the  years  of  the  Civil  War  will  probably 
never  be  known,  as  no  exact  records  were  kept 
prior  to  the  mustering  in  of  the  Eighth  Regiment. 
It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that  the  number  was 
not  less  than  sixteen  hundred,  and  Adjutant-Gen- 
eral Ayling  has  set  it  as  about  eighteen  hundred. 
It  seems  hardly  possible  that  nearly  two  regiments 
of  soldiers  should  have  been  sent  from  Concord; 
but  whatever  the  number  was  from  the  whole  city, 
two  hundred  and  twenty  men  enlisted  from  Pena- 


86  Wayside   Jottings 

cook,  serving  either  in  the  army  or  navy.  Fifty- 
four  of  these  men — or  about  one-fourth  of  this 
number — never  came  back,  being  killed  in  action, 
or  dying  of  wounds  or  disease;  and  a  good  pro- 
portion of  these  men  met  their  death  from  shot  or 
shell  on  the  battlefield. 

We  referred  in  the  last  number  of  these  Jottings 
to  the  death  of  Maj.  William  I.  Brown  at  Fort 
Stedman  in  Virginia,  on  March  29,  1865,  but  a  few 
days  before  the  surrender  of  General  Lee  at  Ap- 
pomattox  court  house,  a  minie  rifle  ball  piercing 
his  forehead.  If  ever  there  was  an  instance  of 
the  irony  of  fate,  it  was  seen  in  his  untimely  taking 
off,  when  after  going  through  four  long  years  of 
conflict  and  participating  in  a  number  of  hard- 
fought  battles,  he  should  forfeit  his  life  when  so 
near  the  close  of  it  all.  Some  of  the  best  well-to-do 
people  in  the  village  were  among  the  first  to  enlist ; 
and  this  statement  will  also  hold  true  of  those  who 
went  to  the  front  in  the  last  as  well  as  the  first 
regiments.  The  people  of  Penacook  may  well  be 
proud  of  the  boys  of  '61- '65.  And  after  peace 
was  restored  to  our  divided  country,  they  then 
fully  realized  the  sacrifices  that  were  made  by  their 
fellow-citizens  during  the  years  of  the  civil  and 
the  needless  war. 

Towering  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 
the  graceful  spire  that  crowns  the  Baptist  Church, 
on  the  corner  of  Merrimack  and  Center  Streets, 
would  be  one  of  the  first  objects  to  attract  the 
attention  of  a  stranger.  The  exterior  of  this 


Wayside   Jottings  87 

church  has  not  been  materially  changed  since  its 
erection  in  1858.  At  the  time  of  its  dedication, 
on  September  8  of  that  year,  the  New  Hampshire 
Statesman  remarked  editorially:  "For  all  the 
appointments  necessary  for  a  religious  society, 
there  is  no  edifice  in  the  central  part  of  New 
Hampshire,  if  in  the  state,  that  equals  this.  It 
is  a  beautiful  memorial  of  the  Christian  enterprise 
and  enlarged  benevolence  of  those  who  conceived 
the  plan  and  carried  it  to  completion."  This 
tribute  of  Mr.  McFarland  will  in  a  measure  hold 
good  after  the  lapse  of  fifty-one  years.  The  cost 
of  the  church,  exclusive  of  the  land,  was  $18,500. 
the  land  being  the  gift  of  the  Contoocook  Manu- 
facturing Company,  while  the  cost  of  the  church 
was  mostly  contributed  by  H.  H.  and  J.  S.  Brown ; 
and  this  evidence  of  liberality  on  their  part  shows 
that  these  two  Christian  brothers  were  helpful  not 
only  to  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  village, 
but  also  to  its  moral  and  religious  interests.  The 
writer  attended  the  dedication  of  this  church, 
hence  his  liking  for  it. 

One  of  the  few  old-time  taverns  remaining  in 
the  valley  of  the  Merrimack  is  the  Penacook  House 
on  the  Boscawen  side  of  the  Contoocook.  It  was 
built  in  1787,  and  has  always  been  in  readiness 
ever  since  to  furnish  entertainment  for  man  and 
beast.  Where  is  there  another  tavern  in  the  state 
that  can  match  this  continuous  record  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  years?  It  beats  the  record 
of  the  Ashville  schoolhouse  in  the  Dimond  Hill 


88  Wayside   Jottings 

district  of  one  hundred  and  six  years.  When  kept 
by  Hannibal  Bonney  it  was  known  for  a  while  as 
Bonney 's  Hotel.  Mr.  Bonney  had  a  twin  brother, 
named  Horace  Bonney,  who  was  the  landlord  of 
the  Ayer  House  in  Hooksett  village  and  which  was 
burned  a  year  or  two  ago.  There  is  a  rather  inter- 
esting history  of  these  brothers  worth  noting. 
They  were,  as  we  have  said,  twins ;  they  had  classi- 
cal names,  Hannibal  and  Horace;  both  served  in 
the  war  with  Mexico  and  were  pensioners;  they 
knew  how  to  keep  a  hotel,  their  hostelries  being 
famous  for  their  good  cheer;  the  villages  where 
they  lived  had  Indian  names;  and  living  to  a  good 
old  age,  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,  and  in 
death  they  were  not  long  divided.  The  palmy 
days  of  these  and  kindred  taverns  were  in  the  years 
before  the  iron  horse  found  its  way  into  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state,  when  teams  and  coaches  were  the 
principal  means  for  the  transportation  of  mer- 
chandise and  passengers. 

Of  course,  the  most  noted  historic  spot  within 
the  boundaries  is  Dustin's  Island,  on  which  was 
erected,  June  17,  1874,  a  granite  statue  of  Hannah 
Dustin,  to  commemorate  the  heroic  deed  of  this 
modern  Jael.  The  occasion  of  its  dedication  was 
an  interesting  one.  Addresses  were  given  by  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Bouton,  Col.  John  H.  George  of  Con- 
cord, George  W.  Nesmith  of  Franklin,  and  others. 
Robert  B.  Caverly  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  delivered  an 
historical  oration  and  also  gave  the  deed  of  the 
land  to  Gov.  J.  A.  Weston,  who  accepted  it  in 


Wayside   Jottings  89 

trust  in  behalf  of  the  state.  Everything  about  this 
monument  of  a  mechanical  or  architectural  char- 
acter is  well  designed  and  finely  executed.  But 
the  less  said  about  the  inscriptions  on  its  four  dies 
the  better.  As  D.  Arthur  Brown  says  in  his  "His- 
tory of  Penacook"  (to  which  we  are  indebted  for 
many  of  the  facts  in  relation  to  this  village)  :  "The 
inscriptions  are  hardly  adequate,  and  it  is  doubtful 
if  any  one  could  learn  from  them  what  the  monu- 
ment was  intended  to  commemorate."  And  he 
further  suggests  that,  ' '  as  the  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire is  the  owner  in  trust,  bronze  tablets  should 
be  placed  in  the  dies  on  which  should  be  inscribed 
the  main  points  of  the  tragic  story,  the  date  of 
the  massacre  and  the  date  of  the  dedication  of  the 
monument."  And  President  Eliot  of  Harvard 
University  is  just  the  man  to  do  it.  The  writer 
notices  that  Prof.  Amos  Hadley,  the  editor  of  the 
"History  of  Concord,"  while  he  has  a  picture  in 
it  of  the  Dustin  monument,  does  not  print  the 
inscription  on  it.  Mr.  Hadley  used  the  best  of 
English  and  wanted  others  to  do  so,  as  some  who 
attended  his  private  school  on  Dunbarton  Hill  in 
the  fifties  will  well  remember. 

As  is  the  case  with  the  statue  of  the  "Minute 
Man"  at  Concord,  Mass.,  Dustin 's  Island  is  visited 
by  numbers  of  people  who  claim  to  be  descendants 
of  Hannah  Dustin,  and  who  wish  to  see  the  spot 
where  ten  of  the  redskins  found  out  to  their  sorrow 
' '  what  was  the  matter  with  Hannah, ' '  and  her  two 
companions  in  captivity.  A  resident  in  this  part 


90  Wayside   Jottings 

of  Penacook  for  some  years  says  it  is  wonderful 
what  a  large  number  of  visitors  to  this  island 
claimed  to  be  descendants  of  Hannah  Dustin.  The 
woods  seemed  to  be  full  of  them.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  Mrs.  Dustin  was  a  strong-minded  woman  in 
her  make-up;  and  as  "the  proof  of  the  pudding 
is  in  the  eating,"  so  the  proof  of  her  courage  and 
nerve  was  seen  in  the  dispatching  of  ten  good 
Indians  on  that  fateful  night  of  March  30,  1697, 
to  the  happy  hunting  grounds. 

To  the  writer  the  chief  charm  of  Penacook  is 
the  Contoocook,  that  runs  in  its  mad  career 
through  the  village,  we  might  say  Lodore  fashion, 
before  it  joins  the  Merrimack,  and  seemingly  glad 
to  do  so.  While  it  is  one  of  the  most  important 
of  our  New  Hampshire  rivers,  on  account  of  the 
manufacturing  villages  lying  along  its  crooked 
course,  that  its  water  power  has  created,  it  is  also 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  its  scenery.  While 
Burns  has  sung  of  Bonnie  Doon ;  Longfellow  of 
the  river  Charles,  and  Whittier  of  the  Merrimack, 
because  they  lived  near  the  banks  of  these  rivers, 
we  have  a  poetess  who  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Henniker  and  who  has  also  sung  the  praises  of  the 
Contoocook — Edna  Dean  Proctor. 

THE  CONTOOCOOK. 

Of  all  the  streams  that  seek  the  sea 
By  mountain  pass  or  sunny  lea 
Nowhere  is  one  that  dares  to  vie 
With  clear  Contoocook,  swift  and  shy, 
Monadnock's  child  of  snow  drifts  born, 


Wayside   Jottings  91 

The  snows  of  many  a  winter's  morn 
And  many  a  midnight,  dark  and  still, 
Heaped  higher,  whiter,  day  by  day, 
To  melt  at  last  with  suns  of  May 
And  steal,  in  tiny  fall  and  rill, 
Down  the  long  slopes  of  granite  gray; 
Or  filter  slow  through  seam  and  cleft, 
Where  frost  and  storm  the  rock  have  reft, 
To  bubble  cool  in  sheltered  springs, 
Where  the  lone  red-bird  dips  his  wings, 
And  the  tired  fox  that  gains  their  brink 
Stops  safe  from  hound  and  horn  to  drink; 
And  rills  and  springs,  grown  broad  and  deep, 
Unite  through  gorge  and  glen  to  sweep 
In  waving  brooks  that  turn  and  take 
The  over-floods  of  pool  and  lake, 
Till,  till  to  the  fields  the  hills  deliver 
Contoocook's  bright  and  brimming  river. 

O  have  you  seen,  from  Hillsborough  town, 
How  fast  its  tide  goes  hurrying  down, 
With  rapids  now,  and  then  a  leap 
Past  giant  boulders,  black  and  steep, 
Plunged  in  mid-water,  fain  to  keep 
Its  current  from  the  meadows  green? 
But,  flecked  with  foam,  it  speeds  along; 
And  not  the  birch  trees'  silvery  sheen, 
Nor  the  soft  lull  of  murmuring  pines, 
Not  hermit  thrushes  fluting  low, 
Nor  ferns,  nor  cardinal  flowers  that  glow 
Where  clematis,  the  fairy,  twines, 
Nor  bowery  islands  where  the  breeze 
Forever  whispers  to  the  trees, 
Can  stay  its  course  or  still  its  song. 
Ceaseless  it  flows  till  round  its  bed 
The  vales  of  Henniker  are  spread. 
Their  banks  all  set  with  golden  grain, 
Or  stately  trees  whose  vistas  gleam — 


92  Wayside    Jottings 

A  double  forest — in  the  stream; 

And,  winding  'neath  the  pine-crowned  hill 

That  overhangs  the  village  plain, 

By  sunny  reaches,  broad  and  still, 

It  nears  the  bridge  that  spans  its  tide — 

The  bridge  whose  arches  low  and  wide 

It  ripples  through.    And  should  you  lean 

A  moment  there  no  lovelier  scene 

On  England's  Wye  or  Scotland's  Tay 

Would  charm  your  gaze  a  summer's  day. 

O  what  of  beauty  'tis  the  giver — 

Contoocook's  bright  and  brimming  river! 

And  on  it  glides,  by  grove  and  glen, 
Dark  woodlands  and  the  homes  of  men, 
With  grove  and  meadow,  fall  and  mill, 
Till,  deep  and  clear,  its  waters  fill 
The  channels  round  that  gem  of  isles 
Sacred  to  captives'  woes  and  wiles, 
And  eager  half,  half  edging  back, 
Blend  with  the  lordly  Merrimack; 
And  Merriroack,  whose  tide  is  strong, 
Rolls  gently  with  its  waves  along 
Monadnock's  stream  that,  coy  and  fair, 
Has  come  its  larger  life  to  share, 
And  to  the  sea  doth  safe  deliver 
Contoocook's  bright  and  shining  river. 


XVII. 

The  first  settlers  of  New  Hampshire  had  a  pro- 
pensity for  building  the  highways  up  and  over  the 
hills,  and  in  some  cases,  over  the  steepest  part. 
Those  who  have  toiled  up  Wood  Hill,  in  the  town 
of  Bow.  or  Mills'  Hill,  in  the  town  of  Dunbarton, 
will  readily  see  in  those  hill  towns  this  fact  illus- 


Wayside   Jottings  93 

trated.  Mills'  Hill  is  said  to  be  two  miles  up  and 
one  mile  down.  On  the  line  of  the  old  Hopkinton 
Road,  we  have  Dimond  Hill,  probably  the  highest 
eminence  in  Ward  Seven,  Concord,  and  so  named 
from  Ezekiel  Dimond,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in 
that  locality.  It  seems  like  going  up  the  roof  of 
a  house  to  climb  it,  but  for  years  it  was  the  only 
direct  road  to  Hopkinton  village,  and  private 
vehicles,  stages  and  loaded  teams,  alike,  went  up 
and  down  its  sides,  until  way  back  in  the  forties, 
in  compliance  of  the  demand  of  the  traveling 
public,  a  new  highway  was  constructed  around  the 
north  side  of  the  hill,  though  the  old  road  being 
somewhat  more  direct  route  between  Concord  and 
Hopkinton  village,  is  probably  as  much  used  for 
light  travel  as  ever. 

Before  we  reach  Dimond  Hill,  we  pass  the  Ash- 
ville  schoolhouse,  a  small,  unpretending  structure 
that  is  a  reminder  of  the  olden  time.  It  is  a  type 
of  the  old-fashioned  schoolhouse.  It  was  built  in 
the  year  1803  and  is  the  oldest  schoolhouse  now 
standing  in  the  city.  It  is  a  four-square,  one-story 
structure  with  hip  roof.  A  tall  white  oak,  prob- 
ably as  old  as  the  house  itself,  stands  guard  over  it. 
This  schoolhouse  is  probably  the  oldest  now  in  use 
in  the  state.  Here  was  "graduated"  a  professor 
in  Dartmouth  College,  Prof.  Ezekial  Dimond. 

On  gaining  the  summit  of  this  hill,  a  fine  view 
is  obtained  of  Merrimack  valley  and  the  region 
beyond.  Here  Isaac  N.  Abbott,  a  native  to  the 
manor  born,  and  a  life-long  resident,  has  erected 


94  Wayside   Jottings 

as  fine  a  set  of  buildings  as  can  be  found  in  Merri- 
mack  County,  and  the  farm  speaks  for  itself  as  to 
its  condition  and  cultivation.  The  political  light- 
ning has  never  struck  any  of  the  farmers  of  Con- 
cord, with  the  exception  of  John  Abbott,  in  his 
first  term.  The  three  central  wards,  especially 
Ward  Five,  seem  to  have  a  mortgage  of  the  mayor- 
ship — Ward  Five  having  had  a  baker's  dozen  that 
have  held  the  office — but  if  it  had  ever  struck  a 
farmer  of  "Ward  Seven,  Mr.  Abbott  would  have 
made  a  good  mark,  being  a  practical  man  of  affairs, 
as  witness  his  fifty  years'  service  as  clerk  of  the 
town  school  district. 

This  old  highway,  for  two  miles  or  more,  is  noted 
for  the  number  of  old-style  houses  that  line  the 
road,  and  that  were  built  in  the  colonial  period. 
We  have  here  an  illustration  of  two  styles,  the 
"box-trap"  style  and  the  "square"  style.  In  Mr. 
Walker 's  article  in  the  new  ' '  History  of  Concord, ' ' 
he  alludes  to  these  styles,  and  which  are  still  seen 
in  some  parts  of  the  city.  Pictures  are  also  given 
of  them.  The  "box-trap"  style  was  built  two 
stories  in  front,  running  down  to  one  story  in  the 
rear.  A  good  example  on  this  highway  of  the 
"square"  style  is  seen  in  the  summer  home  of 
William  F.  Thayer  of  Concord.  When  erected  it 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  houses  in  Hills- 
borough  County,  of  which  Hopkinton  was  then  a 
part.  Before  the  era  of  railroads,  when  lines  of 
stages  and  farmers'  teams  traveled  to  and  from 
the  "up  country,"  it  was  a  hostelry  where  the 


Wayside   Jottings  95 

wants  of  man  and  beast  were  provided  for.  Wil- 
son Flagg,  in  his  "Woods  and  By- Ways  of  New 
England,"  says:  "In  my  mind  the  elm  is  inti- 
mately allied  with  the  old  dwelling  houses.  Not 
many  of  these  venerable  houses  are  still  extant; 
but  wherever  we  see  one,  it  is  almost  invariably 
accompanied  by  its  elm,  standing  in  the  open  space 
that  slopes  from  the  front."  In  the  case  of  Mr. 
Thayer's  house,  there  are  four  stately  elms,  that 
stand  in  line  like  four  brothers,  all  of  similar  size 
and  height,  though  planted  rather  near  together. 
They  are  quite  a  curiosity.  Along  this  old  road  is 
the  home  of  the  Baldwin  apple,  and  in  bearing 
years,  the  trees  are  loaded  with  fruit.  Probably 
the  farm  of  Frank  H.  Colby,  opposite  Mr.  Thayer  's, 
is  the  best  fruit  farm  in  this  section  of  the  town, 
as  the  trees  are  comparatively  young  and  thrifty, 
and  the  orchard  is  worth  seeing  in  harvest  time. 

Further  along  the  road,  Harry  H.  Dudley  of 
Concord  has  a  summer  home,  fronting  the  old 
Hooksett  turnpike,  on  what  he  has  named  the 
"Garrison,"  so  named  from  the  fact  that  here  was 
located  one  of  the  three  garrisons  that  were  built 
for  the  protection  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
from  the  Indians.  This  was  named  the  "Kim- 
ball"  garrison;  one  was  also  located  on  Putney 
Hill;  the  other,  near  the  village  of  Contoocook. 
Within  a  stone-throw  of  the  site  of  the  Kimball 
garrison  is  the  old  Fletcher  house,  the  home  of 
Rev.  Elijah  Fletcher,  the  second  pastor  of  the 
village  Congregational  Church  (1778-1786),  and 


96  Wayside   Jottings 

the  father  of  Grace  Fletcher,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Daniel  Webster. 

XVIII. 

Those  who  have  visited  the  towns  in  Merrimack 
County  will  agree  that  there  is  no  pleasanter  place 
within  its  borders  than  Hopkinton  village.  It  is 
a  village  that  would  have  delighted  the  soul  of 
Oliver  Goldsmith,  and  where  Rip  Van  Winkle 
could  have  enjoyed  his  long  nap  without  molesta- 
tion. It  has  not  changed  very  much  in  its  appear- 
ance with  the  passing  of  the  years;  some  of  the 
old  landmarks  have  disappeared,  notably  the 
structure  that  at  first  served  the  dual  purpose  of 
a  court  house  and  the  home  of  the  Hopkinton 
Academy,  and  in  later  years  as  a  town  house, 
and  the  famous  hostelry  that  in  stage  coach  days 
was  known  as  the  Perkins  Tavern — both  of  these 
some  years  ago  went  up  in  flame  and  smoke.  With 
these  exceptions,  the  village  main  street,  embow- 
ered in  the  shade  of  the  handsome  maples  and  elms 
— among  the  latter  the  famous  Lafayette  elm — 
remains  substantially  the  same  as  it  did  way  back 
in  the  forties,  when  the  writer  first  knew  it.  It  is 
one  of  the  few  remaining  rural  villages  that  James 
Bryce  speaks  about  in  the  "American  Common- 
wealth." But  the  older  residents  of  those  years 
have  mostly  passed  to  "the  undiscovered  country 
from  whose  bourne  no  traveler  returns." 

Suppose  we  turn  back  the  tide  of  time  to  those 
years  and  recall,  if  we  can,  the  names  of  those  that 


o.     *; 


Wayside   Jottings  97 

lived  in  the  spacious  and  comfortable  homes  that 
line  this  street.  The  ministers  of  the  three 
churches  would  perhaps  come  first  in  order.  They 
were  the  Rev.  Moses  Kimball,  pastor  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church;  the  Rev.  Samuel  Cook',  pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  the  Rev.  Moses  B. 
Chase,  rector  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Episcopal 
Church.  There  were  a  number  of  judges  and 
lawyers  resident  here,  as  Hopkinton  in  its  palmy 
days  was  one  of  the  two  shire  towns  of  Hills- 
borough  County,  prior  to  the  formation  of  Merri- 
mack  County,  and  came  pretty  near  being  the 
capital  of  the  state.  In  fact,  the  Great  and  Gen- 
eral Court  met  here  four  times,  prior  to  the  year 
1819,  when  the  new  state  house  at  Concord  was 
first  occupied. 

One  of  these  judges  was  Matthew  Harvey,  a 
gentleman  of  the  old  school,  and  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  kindliness.  Then  there  were  John  Harris, 
Baruch  Chase  and  Horace  Chase,  who  for  some 
years  was  judge  of  probate  of  Merrimack  County. 
The  physicians  were  Dr.  Ebenezer  Lernerd,  Dr. 
Stephen  Currier,  Dr.  James  A.  Gregg  and  Dr. 
Cyril  C.  Tyler.  The  old  Perkins  Tavern,  kept  at 
first  by  Capt.  Bimsley  Perkins,  and  afterwards,  in 
the  forties,  by  Joseph  Stanwood,  was  then  in  all 
its  glory.  As  there  were  a  number  of  stage  lines 
that  ran  through  the  village  from  the  north  coun- 
try, and  in  the  direction  of  Hillsborough  and 
Keene,  there  was  quite  a  lively  time  on  the  coming 
and  departure. 


9%  Wayside   Jottings 

Other  prominent  residents  in  the  forties  were 
Capt.  Herman  H.  Greene,  Josiah  H.  Knowlton, 
Daniel  Flanders,  Ariel  P.  Knowlton,  Theophilus 
Stanley,  Thomas  Wells,  Isaac  Long,  Thomas  Bailey, 
Reuben  French,  I.  Webber  Fellows,  Horace  Ed- 
munds, William  Little  and  Samuel  Smith.  Others 
there  were,  of  course,  whose  names  the  writer  does 
not  recall. 

Hopkinton  village  in  the  first  years  of  the  last 
century  had  a  fair  future  before  it,  as  the  sessions 
of  the  court  were  held  there  in  connection  with 
the  town  of  Amherst.  And  it  had  a  fair  prospect 
of  being  the  capital  of  the  state,  but  it  was  changed, 
however,  by  one  vote  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
governor  and  council,  which  turned  the  scale  in 
favor  of  Concord.  The  formation  of  Merrimack 
County  also  changed  its  shiretown  and  brought 
the  courts  to  Concord.  The  principal  cause  of 
Hopkinton 's  decline  has  been  stated  by  C.  C.  Lord 
in  "Life  and  Times  in  Hopkinton."  He  says: 
"Some  sixty  years  ago  the  tide  of  local  emigration 
began.  The  commercial  and  manufacturing  cen- 
ters began  to  attract  the  young  of  both  sexes.  The 
store,  the  shop  and  the  mill  got  their  share  of 
recruits  from  this  town.  Then  the  newer  states 
of  the  West  began  to  draw  their  quota  of  adven- 
turers." Of  late  years,  the  village  and  Putney 
Hill  are  getting  to  be  summer  resorts,  and  many 
of  the  houses  in  the  village  are  occupied  by 
sojourners  during  the  pleasanter  part  of  the  year, 


Wayside   Jottings  99 

while  in  the  winter  months  it  has  the  appearance 
of  a  deserted  village. 

One  of  the  notable  institutions  of  Hopkinton 
village  is  the  New  Hampshire  Antiquarian  Society. 
It  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  Philomatic  Club,  organ- 
ized in  the  year  1859.  Three  young  men,  George 
E.  Crowell,  Darwin  C.  Blanchard  and  Silas 
Ketchun,  were  its  organizers;  at  first  its  member- 
ship was  limited  to  seven.  Its  constitution  was 
formed  on  the  model  of  the  Kit  Cat  Club  as 
described  in  Addison's  "Spectator."  The  mem- 
bers were  to  meet  once  a  week,  when  practicable, 
otherwise  as  often  as  they  could.  The  original 
design  of  this  club  was  social,  intellectual  and  lit- 
erary culture;  a  private  collection  of  relics,  min- 
erals and  natural  curiosities  was  formed,  and  in 
the  sixties  was  placed  in  a  room  in  Mr.  Cro well's 
house  on  Beach  Hill.  Here  the  club  continued  to 
meet  until  the  year  1868,  when  the  house  passed 
into  other  hands,  and  the  collection  of  curiosities 
was  afterwards  removed  to  Contoocook,  where  it 
remained  till  the  year  1890,  when,  on  its  com- 
pletion, the  Long  Memorial  building  became  the 
permanent  home  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  New 
Hampshire  Antiquarian  Society.  This  three-story 
structure  of  brick  and  stone  was  erected  by  Mrs. 
William  H.  Long,  in  memory  of  her  husband,  a 
native  of  Hopkinton  village  and  for  some  years  a 
master  in  the  Boston  public  schools.  A  half  a  day 
could  be  profitably  spent  in  looking  over  the  fine 
collection  of  relics  and  antiquities  that  are  to  be 


100  Wayside   Jottings 

found  arranged  in  glass  cases  in  the  spacious  hall 
devoted  to  the  uses  of  the  society. 

There  is  probably  no  finer  view  of  the  valley  of 
the  Contoocook,  with  old  Kearsarge  in  the  back- 
ground, than  that  obtained  from  the  summit  of 
Putney  Hill.  It  is  the  oldest  part  of  the  town 
and  one  of  the  landmarks  remaining  is  the  old 
parsonage.  There  are  some  good  farms  in  this 
section  of  the  town,  and  it  is  the  home  of  the 
Baldwin  apple.  Now  that  the  Perkins  Inn  at  the 
village  has  gone  up  in  flame  and  smoke,  the  two 
remaining  summer  hotels,  the  Mt.  Lookout  House 
and  the  Grand  View  House,  are  left  to  cater  to 
the  wants  of  the  city  visitors. 

XIX. 

One  of  the  old  landmarks  in  Hopkinton  village 
is  St.  Andrew's  Episcopal  Church.  In  fact,  it  is 
the  oldest  church  edifice  in  town,  having  been  built 
in  the  years  1827- '28,  and  dedicated  on  June  25, 
1828,  nearly  seventy-eight  years  ago.  While  the 
older  churches  generally  throughout  the  state  have 
undergone  a  renovation  or  reconstruction,  either 
in  their  exterior  or  their  interior,  this  church  is 
substantially  the  same  in  its  appearance  today  as 
it  was  the  year  it  was  dedicated.  It  is  of  solid 
construction,  its  walls  being  of  granite  and  having 
a  square  tower  of  the  style  that  was  in  vogue  in 
those  years.  Its  interior  remains  about  the  same 
and  is  pleasing  and  attractive.  A  pipe  organ,  a 


Wayside   Jottings  101 

reredos,  and  a  reading  desk  are  the  only  new  fea- 
tures. The  pews  have  never  been  changed  and 
are  of  the  kind  that  were  formerly  to  be  found  in 
our  churches,  being  provided  with  doors  and  but- 
tons to  fasten  them  when  closed.  In  olden  times 
a  man 's  pew  was  regarded  as  his  castle  on  Sundays, 
and  strangers  were  not  very  cordially  welcomed. 
But  this  fashion  has  all  been  changed,  and  ushers 
are  always  glad  to  show  one  to  a  seat. 

A  relic  of  former  days  stands  unused  in  the  old 
singers'  gallery  over  the  vestibule  that  is  quite  a 
curiosity  and  ought  to  have  been  in  the  famous 
collection  of  old  musical  instruments  that  were 
exhibited  by  Chickering  &  Sons  a  few  years  since ; 
it  is  a  pipe  organ,  made  by  Lemuel  Hodges  of 
Windsor,  Vt.  It  has  been  displaced  by  a  more 
modern  organ,  which  stands  at  the  right  of  the 
reredos.  What  adds  much  to  the  beauty  of  the 
interior  of  the  church  are  the  stained  glass  memo- 
rial windows  giving  "a  dim  religious  light"  to  the 
interior.  One  of  these  windows,  near  which  the 
organ  is  appropriately  placed,  and  at  which  she 
presided  for  a  number  of  years,  has  this  inscrip- 
tion: "To  the  Memory  of  Catherine  Crosby  Per- 
kins Lernerd,  Who  For  Twenty  Years  Was  in 
Charge  of  the  Music  of  This  Church.  Died  Dec. 
26,  1892."  What  particularly  interested  the 
writer,  and  brought  back  some  old-time  recollec- 
tions, was  the  fact  that  this  lady  taught  a  private 
school  in  Hopkinton  village  some  years  ago,  and 
when  a  youngster  he  was  one  of  her  scholars  and 


102  Wayside   Jottings 

has  some  rewards  of  merit  in  his  possession  that 
she  gave  him.  His  recollection  of  her  is  that  she 
was  a  good  teacher. 

Within  a  stone's  throw  of  St.  Andrew's  Church 
is  another  landmark  in  the  shape  of  a  big  elm  that 
is  historic.  A  bronze  tablet  on  its  trunk  records 
the  fact  that  under  its  branches  Rev.  Jacob  Scales, 
the  first  minister  of  the  town,  was  ordained,  in 
February,  1789.  Also,  that  General  Lafayette 
held  a  reception  there,  when  he  passed  through 
the  village  on  his  way  to  Vermont,  June  22,  1825. 
It  was  probably  the  most  notable  event  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  town.  And  this  is  a  reminder  that 
there  is  another  Lafayette  elm,  in  the  state  house 
park,  for  the  tradition  is  that  when  the  state  of 
New  Hampshire  gave  the  famous  dinner  in  that 
place  in  honor  of  General  Lafayette,  when  he 
visited  Concord,  and  at  which  as  guests  were  some 
two  hundred  Revolutionary  soldiers  under  com- 
mand of  Gov.  Benjamin  Pierce,  the  general  sat 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  tables  under  this  elm.  It 
is  said  to  be  the  first  tree  to  the  north  of  the  Web- 
ster statue,  and  nearly  in  line  with  it.  If  the  town 
of  Hopkinton  could  commemmorate  Lafayette's 
visit  by  placing  a  tablet  on  the  elm,  stating  that 
fact,  it  seems  to  be  a  pertinent  inquiry  why  the 
state  of  New  Hampshire  should  not  also  do  the 
same  thing  by  the  elm  in  the  park. 

Five  roads  branch  off  like  spokes  from  a  wheel 
from  the  village  square  that  fronts  the  Perkins  Inn 
and  the  Congregational  Church.  If  we  take  the 


Wayside   Jottings  103 

road  leading  to  Beech  Hill  and  Tyler's  bridge  over 
the  Contoocook,  we  will  soon  come  to  the  place 
where  the  first  and  last  public  execution  took  place 
in  Merrimack  County.  It  was  here  that  Abraham 
Prescott  was  hanged  on  January  6,  1836,  for  the 
murder  of  Mrs.  Sally  Cochran  of  Pembroke. 
While  other  places  or  sites  in  or  near  the  village 
have  been  appropriately  marked  with  bronze  tab- 
lets, nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  attempted  at  this 
place,  probably  on  account  of  the  tragic  character 
of  the  scene  there  enacted,  and  the  doubt  about  the 
mental  responsibility  of  the  principal  actor  therein. 
It  is  near  the  highway  in  what  formerly  was  a 
pasture,  now  used  by  the  Beech  Hill  Golf  Club  as 
golf  links,  and  on  which  a  neat  club  house  has  been 
erected.  Nearby  is  a  fine  oak  grove,  one  of  ' '  God 's 
first  temples,"  where  in  years  past  the  Fourth  of 
July  Sunday  School  celebrations  took  place,  and 
where  in  recent  years  Hopkinton's  Old  Home  Day 
has  been  observed  with  appropriate  exercises. 

Abraham  Prescott  was  probably  a  demented  man 
when  he  committed  the  crime  for  which  he  was 
executed,  and  if  the  old  saying  is  true,  that  "the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  the  church," 
then  his  legal  taking  off  was  the  seed  corn,  or 
starting  point,  of  the  movement  that  culminated  in 
the  location  and  building  of  an  asylum  for  the 
insane  in  Concord.  And  one  looking  at  this  asy- 
lum, or  hospital,  and  noting  the  many  buildings 
that  have  been  erected  from  year  to  year,  can  see 


104  Wayside   Jottings 

what  a  great  and  beneficent  institution  it  has  come 
to  be. 

Prof.  Amos  Hadley,  in  an  interesting  address 
that  he  delivered  in  June,  1896,  before  the  New 
Hampshire  Historical  Society  on  "New  Hampshire 
in  the  Fourth  Decade  of  the  Passing  (Nineteenth) 
Century,"  refers  to  this  grewsome  event  as  follows: 

"In  1833  occurred  in  Pembroke  the  startling 
murder  of  Mrs.  Sally  Cochran  at  the  hands  of  the 
youth,  Abraham  Prescott.  The  case  is  a  celebrated 
one  in  our  criminal  annals.  Prescott  was  twice 
tried,  twice  convicted,  and  twice  sentenced  to  be 
hanged.  Upon  the  unanimous  recommendation  of 
the  three  judges  of  the  highest  court — Richardson, 
Parker  and  Upham — who  had  sat  at  his  trial,  and 
upon  the  petition  of  others,  Governor  Badger 
ordered  the  execution  postponed  from  the  23d  of 
December,  1835,  to  the  6th  of  January,  1836.  A 
great  crowd  of  spectators  had  gathered  at  the  jail 
in  Ilopkinton  on  the  former  day  and.  disappointed 
at  the  reprieve,  had  resorted  to  such  threats  of  mob 
violence  as  caused  the  death,  by  fright,  of  Jailer 
Leach's  invalid  daughter.  The  members  of  the 
court,  who  had  doubts  as  to  Prescott 's  soundness 
of  mind  at  the  time  of  committing  the  deed,  recom- 
mended to  the  governor  a  continuance  of  the  re- 
prieve.— if  the  council  should  consent, — till  legis- 
lative relief  might  be  obtained.  The  council  would 
not  consent,  and  so  the  condemned  youth, — a  fitter 
subject  for  a  lunatic  asylum  than  the  gallows, — 
was  executed  on  the  cold  January  day,  dangling  in 


Wayside   Jottings  105 

the  sight  of  thousands  who  had  gathered  from  all 
the  region  around.  But  Charles  H.  Peaslee  and 
Ichabod  Bartlett,  fully  convinced  of  the  moral 
irresponsibility  of  the  victim  whom  they  had 
strenuously  defended  at  the  trial,  found  in  this 
result  new  incentive  and  argument  in  their  emi- 
nently effective  efforts  to  establish  an  asylum  for 
the  insane — the  question  of  doing  which  soon  en- 
gaged the  earnest  attention  of  the  people  and  the 
legislature."  And  then  Mr.  Hadley  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  efforts  that  were  made  by  the  different 
administrations  and  Legislatures  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  asylum,  until  six  years  after  the  execu- 
tion of  Prescott,  or  in  the  year  1842,  it  was  opened 
for  the  reception  of  patients. 

About  a  mile  east  of  Hopkinton  village,  near  the 
junction  of  the  main  road  to  Concord  and  the  old 
Hooksett  turnpike,  is  an  old  dwelling  house,  prob- 
ably one  of  the  oldest  in  town,  and  which  has 
always  been  unpainted  save  by  the  weather  brush 
of  time.  It  is  somewhat  historic,  and  a  bronze 
tablet  by  the  side  of  the  highway  states  that  it  is 
the  birthplace  of  Grace  Fletcher,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Elijah  Fletcher,  and  the  first  wife  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster. Grace  Fletcher,  it  seems,  did  not  live  long 
at  this  place,  for  on  the  death  of  her  father  she 
went  to  reside  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Thompson,  in 
Boscawen,  where  Daniel  Webster  made  her  ac- 
quaintance. According  to  Henry  McFarland,  who 
took  some  pains  to  investigate  the  matter,  and  of 
which  he  gives  an  account  in  his  interesting  volume 


106  Wayside   Jottings 

entitled  "Sixty  Years  in  Concord,"  it  is  not  defi- 
nitely known  who  was  the  officiating  clergyman  at 
the  marriage  of  Daniel  Webster  and  Grace  Fletcher. 
This  took  place  in  Salisbury  on  Sunday  evening, 
May  29,  1808,  and  in  the  notices  of  the  event  in 
the  state  papers  the  name  of  the  clergyman  is 
not  given.  It  was  formerly  supposed  that  Rev. 
Thomas  Worcester,  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Salisbury,  officiated;  another  statement 
was  that  Rev.  Asa  McFarland,  pastor  at  that  time 
of  the  Old  North  Church  in  Concord,  was  probably 
the  minister;  but  Henry  McFarland,  after  making 
some  investigations  as  to  the  truth  of  this  report, 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  "there  was  no  proof 
that  Doctor  McFarland  officiated  at  the  espousals. ' ' 

XX. 

It  is  an  old  saying  that  "a  short  horse  is  soon 
curried,"  and  so  it  may  be  said  that  a  town  with 
a  short  name  is  soon  spoken.  Bow  and  Rye  can 
both  claim  the  distinction  of  having  the  shortest 
names  of  towns  in  the  Granite  State,  with  Hill, 
Bath,  Troy  and  Lyme  as  close  seconds.  The  name 
of  Bow  is  said  to  be  derived  from  a  bow  or  bend  in 
the*  Merrimack.  Rye  is  said  to  take  its  name  from 
a  town  in  England  from  which  its  early  settlers 
came.  Bow  is  rather  unique  in  other  respects. 
There  is  nothing  that  can  be  called  a  village  within 
its  limits.  At  the  Center  there  is  a  neighborhood, 
which  we  usually  find  at  four  corners  of  the  high- 


Wayside   Jottings  107 

way.  There  we  also  find  a  church  and  the  town 
house.  That,  along  with  Dunbarton,  it  is  one  of 
the  hill  towns  of  Merrimack  County,  goes  without 
saying,  as  those  who  have  climbed  ' '  Meeting  House 
Hill"  and,  above  all;  "Wood  Hill,"  can  attest. 
The  former  takes  its  name  from  the  fact  that  in 
the  early  days  of  the  town  the  meeting  house 
was  located  on  its  summit.  It  was  a  Baptist 
Church  and  the  structure  is  still  standing  on  its 
original  site,  though  it  has  been  converted  into  a 
barn.  It  was  built  at  a  time  when  the  custom 
largely  prevailed  of  erecting  the  church  on  the 
highest  hill  in  town.  Its  walls,  that  aforetime 
echoed  to  the  preaching  of  the  old  theology,  now 
resound  to  the  sounds  of  dumb  animals.  And  if 
we  should  moralize  a  little,  who  knows  that,  after 
all,  the  old  theology  may  not  be  as  near  or  nearer 
right  than  that  which  is  now  in  fashion,  and  which 
in  fifty  years  from  now  will,  in  turn,  be  considered 
old  and  out  of  date.  There  is  a  woful  lack  of  posi- 
tive knowledge  on  the  part  of  our  theologians  in 
regard  to  what  is  in  store  for  us  when  we  shuffle  off 
our  mortal  coil.  Whittier  seems  to  have  this  same 
thought  in  his  mind  when  he  writes  : 

I  turn  from  nature  unto  men. 

I  ask  the  stylus  and  the  pen: 

What  sang  the  bards  of  old?    What  meant 

The  prophets  of  the  Orient? 

The  rolls  of  buried  Egypt,  hid 

In  painted  tomb  and  pyramid? 

What  mean  Idumea's  arrow  lines? 


108  Wayside   Jottings 

Or  dusk  Elora's  monstrous  signs? 
How  speaks  the  primal  thought  of  man 
From  the  grim  carvings  of  Copan? 
Where  rest  the  secret?  where  the  keys 
Of  the  old  death-bolted  mysteries? 
Alas!  the  dead  retain  their  trust; 
Dust  hath  no  answer  from  the  dust. 

That  the  lumbermen,  along  with  the  portable 
sawmills,  have  visited  Bow  and  have  carried  on 
their  destructive  work  is  plainly  evidenced  by  the 
big  piles  of  sawdust  and  the  limbs  of  the  trees, 
scattered  over  the  ground,  which  are  to  be  seen 
as  one  passes  over  the  Hooksett  turnpike.  These 
men  and  the  mills  are  the  deadly  foes  of  the  forests 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  way 
to  stay  their  course.  But  there  is  one  tract  of 
pine  forest  land,  consisting  of  a  pine  grove,  on 
the  farm  of  David  Hammond,  on  the  summit  of 
Wood  Hill,  that  has  not  as  yet  been  invaded,  per- 
haps for  the  reason  that  the  trees  are  not  large 
enough  to  cut  down.  This  grove  is  an  ideal  place 
for  picnics  and  other  gatherings,  and  for  the  last 
four  or  five  years  Old  Home  Day  has  here  been 
observed.  The  celebration  this  year  was  held  on 
August  23  and  was  carried  out  in  a  successful  man- 
ner under  the  direction  of  Gen.  H.  M.  Baker,  as 
president  of  the  town  association. 

From  the  summit  of  Wood  Hill  we  get  a  splendid 
view  of  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack, — some  think 
it  the  best  view, — and  also  a  far-away  look  in  the 
direction  of  the  White  Mountains.  Our  Merri- 


Wayside   Jottings  109 

mack  County  mountain,  old  Kearsarge,  looms  up 
in  all  its  dignity,  reminding  one  of  a  couchant  lion, 
gazing  in  the  direction  of  his  brothers  in  the  White 
Hills.  From  this  elevation  we  also  get  a  good  view 
of  the  territory  claimed  by  Bow  in  the  original 
grant  of  land,  but  which  was  also  claimed  by  Con- 
cord, then  known  as  Rumford,  and  Pembroke,  then 
known  as  Suncook.  What  these  towns  finally  got 
was  evidently  the  best  part  of  the  land,  leaving  the 
roughest  and  most  hilly  part  to  Bow. 

Bow  would  seem  to  be  a  good  town  to  try  the 
experiment  of  a  church  federation.  There  are  two 
churches  in  town,  the  Baptist  at  the  Center,  and 
the  Methodist  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town.  The 
former  used  to  be  quite  a  strong  church,  but  death 
and  removals  to  other  parts  of  the  country  have 
depleted  its  numbers  till  hardly  more  than  a 
baker's  dozen  are  left.  General  Baker,  in  his  ad- 
dress on  Old  Home  Day,  spoke  of  the  desirability 
of  pooling  the  denominational  issues, — uniting  and 
having  but  one  church.  It  would  be  an  object 
lesson  for  other  towns  to  follow,  besides  carrying 
out  the  Scripture  idea  of  "one  Lord,  one  faith  and 
one  baptism."  One  of  the  ministers  who  spoke 
afterwards,  in  commenting  on  General  Baker's 
suggestion,  said  that  if  the  plan  was  carried  out 
one  of  Bow's  ministers  would  lose  his  job.  And 
that  is  possibly  the  principal  reason  why  the  fed- 
eration of  the  churches  does  not  succeed,  and  prob- 
ably never  will  succeed,  though  perhaps  the  remark 
was  made  half  in  jest. 


110  Wayside   Jottings 

Some  years  ago,  if  the  writer  remembers  cor- 
rectly, Wood  Hill  had  another  name.  It  was  called 
Flag  Staff  Hill,  from  the  fact  that  a  flag  staff  was 
planted  on  the  highest  part  of  it,  from  which  Old 
Glory  was  wont  to  float.  At  the  annual  Old 
Home  Day  gathering  it  was  voted,  and  a  com- 
mittee appointed  4o  procure  another  staff,  from 
which  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  once 
more  can  wave.  No  better  time  could  be  fixed 
upon  to  fling  it  to  the  breeze  than  on  an  Old  Home 
Day.  and  General  Baker  is  just  the  man  to  deliver 
an  oration  and  cause  the  old  eagle  to  scream  lustily. 
Old  Kearsarge  and  Mount  Washington  would  be 
interested,  though  distant  spectators. 

XXI. 

Two-thirds  of  the  way  up  Wood  Hill,  where 
Bow's  last  Old  Home  Day  was  celebrated,  we  come 
to  the  road  that  branches  off  in  the  direction  of 
Dunbarton  Center.  It  leads  into  the  Bailey  dis- 
trict, where  the  three  Oliver  Baileys,  father,  son 
and  grandson,  have  lived  in  succession  and  tilled 
one  of  the  largest  farms  in  that  locality.  The  barn 
on  the  original  Bailey  farm  is  probably  the  biggest 
in  town,  being  all  of  two  hundred  feet  in  length, 
and  is  a  witness  of  the  former  days  of  New  Hamp- 
shire farming,  when  it  was  filled  with  hay  and 
grain  harvested  on  the  uplands  and  in  the  meadows 
and  where  a  large  stock  of  cattle  was  kept.  In 
this  locality  is  the  humble  cottage  where  Henry  M. 


Wayside   Jottings  111 

Putney  of  the  Manchester  Mirror  (now  deceased) 
first  saw  the  light  of  day.  As  an  expert  New 
Hampshire  politician,  he  had  few  equals  in  a  state 
where  politicians,  like  poets,  are  born,  not  made. 
We  are  also  in  the  vicinity  of  the  "  Great  Mead- 
ows," where  Joseph  Putney  and  James  Rogers, 
who  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  the  town,  came 
about  the  year  1748.  They  had  hardly  commenced 
a  settlement  when  they  were  compelled  to  flee  to 
Concord,  then  known  as  Rumford,  for  safety  from 
Indian  attack. 

From  the  Bailey  district  to  Dunbarton  Center  is 
about  a  couple  of  miles,  and  when  we  arrive  there 
we  find  that  it  is  like  "a  city  set  on  a  hill  that 
cannot  be  hid."  We  look  down  on  the  west  side 
into  the  valley  of  the  Piscataquog,  where  is  situated 
the  village  of  East  Weare,  with  the  hills  of  Weare 
Center  and  the  mountains  of  Francestown  in  the 
background.  To  the  south  is  seen  the  grand  Mon- 
adnock;  to  the  west  we  see  Ascutney,  over  in  the 
Green  Mountain  State;  while  to  the  east,  in  the 
neighboring  town  of  Goffstown,  are  the  twin  Un- 
canoonucs.  Here  we  find  a  small  village,  typical 
of  former  New  England  times,  with  the  village 
square  and  the  old  meeting-house  (since  burned) 
standing  in  the  center  of  it.  Dunbarton  has  a 
longer  name  than  Bow,  a  name  that  fills  the  mouth 
in  pronouncing  it.  The  first  settlers  of  the  town 
were  Scotch-Irish,  and  along  with  their  household 
goods  they  brought  the  name  of  their  town  with 
them,  although  in  crossing  the  big  pond  the  "m" 


112  Wayside   Jottings 

in  the  first  syllable  was  changed  to  an  "n."  In 
this  connection,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  most  of 
the  early  settled  towns  of  the  state  have  foreign, 
mainly  English,  names.  There  is  no  town  in 
Merrimack  County  that  has  an  Indian  name,  and 
only  four  in  the  whole  state,  that  the  writer  is 
aware  of, — Merrimack,  Nashua,  Sunapee  and  Ossi- 
pee,  though  Concord  was  originally  known  as 
Penacook,  and  Pembroke  as  Suncook.  Probably 
the  main  reason  for  this  naming  of  the  old  towns 
and  change  of  names  was  that  the  first  settlers  had 
a  somewhat  unpleasant  experience  with  the  Indians 
— the  Bradley  monument  out  on  Pleasant  Street 
is  a  mute  witness  to  that  fact. 

At  Dunbarton,  as  we  have  intimated,  there  is 
still  standing  on  the  village  common  the  first  meet- 
ing house  (since  burned),  which  was  built  about 
the  year  1785.  Its  outside  appearance  remains  as 
aforetime,  but  its  interior  has  undergone  a  com- 
plete change.  The  high  pulpit,  with  its  quaint 
sounding-board,  and  the  high-backed,  square  pews, 
have  disappeared;  a  floor  divides  the  interior  in 
two  halls,  the  lower  one  being  used  for  a  town  hall 
and  the  upper  one  for  the  use  of  the  Grange  and 
other  social  organizations.  On  the  west  side  of 
the  street,  nearly  opposite,  stands  the  Congrega- 
tional vestry,  a  two-story  building,  the  upper  part 
containing  a  room  which  in  former  days,  or  along 
in  the  fifties,  was  used  for  a  private  school,  filling 
the  place  of  a  high  school  or  academy.  Here  Prof. 
Amos  Hadley,  of  Concord,  and  afterwards  Prof. 


Wayside   Jottings  113 

Mark  Bailey,  for  years  an  instructor  in  Yale  Col- 
lege, taught  the  scholars  who  came  from  all  parts 
of  the  town.  It  goes  without  saying  that  they  were 
first-class  teachers,  as  all  who  enjoyed  their  in- 
structions will  readily  testify.  Some  of  the  teach- 
ers in  the  Center  School  district  along  in  the  fifties 
were  Paltiah  Brown,  afterwards  register  of  deeds 
for  Merrimack  County ;  Henry  L.  Burnham,  father 
of  Senator  Henry  E.  Burnham;  and  John  C.  Ray, 
afterwards  superintendent  of  the  State  Reform 
School  at  Manchester.  Some  of  the  scholars  of  the 
private  school  under  Prof.  Mark  Bailey  were  E.  O. 
Jameson,  T.  H.  Jameson,  George  H.  Twiss,  Howard 
Cook,  George  Putnam,  Chase  Stinson  and  James 
Bailey. 

This  allusion  to  the  schools  reminds  the  writer 
that  about  the  time  to  which  reference  is  made 
Revs.  J.  M.  Putnam  and  H.  D.  Hodge  compiled  a 
grammar,  which  they  claimed  was  a  decided  im- 
provement on  those  in  use  in  the  schools  at  that 
time.  Henry  McFarland,  in  his  "Sixty  Years  in 
Concord,"  alludes  to  this  grammar.  John  F. 
Brown,  in  whose  bookstore  Mr.  McFarland  was 
then  clerk,  was  the  publisher,  and  these  gram- 
marians were  wont  to  call  at  the  store  and  express 
their  wonderment  why  there  was  not  more  of  a 
demand  for  the  grammar.  He  states  that  it  was 
somewhat  "revolutionary"  in  its  rules  and  there- 
fore did  not  go  off  very  well.  The  writer  well  re- 
members that  grammar,  and  no  doubt  Mr.  Mc- 
Farland has  hit  upon  the  right  reason  why  it  did 

8 


114  Wayside   Jottings 

not  sell  better.  As  the  authors  were  at  that  time 
the  superintending  school  committee  of  Dunbarton, 
there  was  one  town  where  the  scholars  were  obliged 
to  get  a  copy  of  Putnam  and  Hodge's  Grammar 
and  study  it. 

William  E.  Curtis,  in  his  interesting  letters  from 
this  state,  first  published  in  the  Chicago  Record- 
Herald,  and  afterwards  republished  in  the  Monitor, 
says:  "Everybody  almost  in  Rye  is  either  a  Jen- 
ness,  a  Locke,  or  a  Philbrick;  that  is,  all  the  per- 
manent residents. ' '  In  former  years,  perhaps  more 
than  now,  it  might  be  said  that  the  leading  families 
in  Dunbarton  were  either  Burnhams,  Baileys,  Stin- 
sons  or  Starks;  North  Dunbarton  being  the  abode 
of  the  Pages,  the  Whipples  and  the  Tenneys;  but 
with  the  lapse  of  years  marked  changes  have  taken 
place.  Some  of  the  prominent  old-time  residents 
of  Dunbarton  Center,  as  the  writer  recalls  them, 
were  Rev.  J.  M.  Putnam,  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church;  Rev.  Samuel  Cook,  pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church ;  Benjamin  Whipple,  John  Stinson, 
Samuel  Kimball,  Warren  Perley,  Samuel  Burnham 
and  John  Page.  These  have  probably  all  gone 
over  the  river,  after  living  to  a  good  old  age.  If 
breathing  pure  air  is  conducive  to  longevity,  the 
dwellers  on  Dunbarton  Hill  get  it  in  full  measure. 
It  has  never  been  a  very  favorable  location  for  a 
physician. 

The  old  meeting-house  in  the  village  square  was 
where  Rev.  Walter  Harris,  the  first  minister  of 
the  town,  preached  the  old  theology  without  any 


Wayside   Jottings  115 

dilution  in  its  strength.  For  years  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  was  the  only  church  in  town.  In 
the  course  of  time  the  Baptists  erected  a  house  of 
worship,  though  regarded  somewhat  in  the  light  of 
intruders;  and  the  two  churches  have  continued 
on  their  way  under  varying  conditions.  Like  Bow, 
it  would  seem  to  be  a  good  place  to  try  church  fed- 
eration. The  writer  was  in  attendance  at  the  first 
Old  Home  Day  celebration  in  Dunbarton  and 
among  the  speakers  was  Rev.  Samuel  Woodbury, 
then  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Bow,  and 
previously  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Dun- 
barton.  Those  who  know  him  will  remember  his 
humorous  way  of  speaking.  There  was  one  winter 
when  the  Congregational  Church  was  without  a 
pastor,  and  this  church  and  the  Baptist  Church 
held  a  union  service  in  the  Congregational  Church, 
Mr.  Woodbury  conducting  the  services.  He  al- 
luded to  this  circumstance  in  his  remarks  and  said 
that  one  winter  he  was  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  and  no  doubt  he  made  an  accept- 
able one.  If  such  a  unity  in  religious  matters 
could  be  carried  out  for  a  few  months,  there  would 
seem  to  be  no  valid  reason  why  it  might  not  be- 
come permanent.  It  is  hard  to  get  out  of  sectarian 
ruts,  and  probably  we  shall  have  church  federa- 
tion about  the  time  when  "the  sword  is  beaten  into 
a  plowshare  and  the  spear  into  a  pruning  hook, 
and  when  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more." 

In    any    direction    that    one   leaves    Dunbarton 
Center,  he  has  to  go  down  a  hill,  some  steeper  than 


116  Wayside   Jottings 

others,  though  any  of  them  will  fill  the  bill.  The 
road  to  North  Dunbarton  leads  down  Mills  Hill, 
which,  like  Wood  Hill  in  Bow,  is  said  to  be  two 
miles  up  and  one  mile  down.  A  splendid  view 
is  afforded  in  its  descent  of  the  northern  part  of 
Merrimack  County,  with  old  Kearsarge  looming  up 
before  you,  and  the  White  Hills  in  the  distance. 
It  would  seem  worth  while  for  one  to  throw  down 
the  muck  rake  and  take  a  ride  out  on  the  hills  of 
Bow  and  Dunbarton  and  see  the  beautiful  views 
that  are  presented  of  central  New  Hampshire. 

XXII. 

Bryant  in  "Thanatopsis"  tells  of 

The  hills 
Rock-ribbed,  and  ancient  as  the  sun 

This  is  no  doubt  a  good  description  of  many  of 
the  hills  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,  and 
especially  of  old  "Rattlesnake"  up  in  the  West 
Concord  district.  That  its  sides  are  "rock-ribbed" 
is  evidenced  by  the  many  thousands  of  tons  of 
granite  that  have  been  blasted  from  them  and  have 
been  fashioned  by  skilled  artisans  into  the  numer- 
ous stately  structures,  both  public  and  private, 
throughout  our  country.  While  the  supply  of 
iron,  copper,  coal  and  other  minerals  may  in  time 
be  exhausted,  there  is  no  danger  but  what  Con- 
cord's famous  hill  can  be  depended  upon  for  a 
supply  of  granite  till  the  crack  of  doom. 


Wayside   Jottings  117 

Away  back  in  the  thirties  this  ' '  ancient ' '  hill  was 
considered  of  enough  importance  to  have  its  pic- 
ture inserted  in  Hay  ward's  "New  England  Gazet- 
teer. ' '  In  fact,  this  picture  and  that  of  the  ' '  Land- 
ing of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth"  were  the  only 
two  in  the  book.  In  the  description  of  Concord 
this  picture  is  given  over  the  name  of  "The  New 
Hampshire  Granite  Ledge."  The  writer  has  an 
idea  that  this  representation  is  part  fact  and  part 
fancy;  or,  in  other  words,  it  portrayed  what  then 
existed,  and  what  was  projected  and  hoped  for  in 
the  future.  In  the  foreground  is  the  Merrimack 
with  a  flat-bottom  canal  or  river  boat,  with  sail 
set,  loaded  with  blocks  of  granite,  starting  on  its 
trip  down  the  river.  Standing  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  and  partly  projecting  over  the  water,  is  the 
freight  house  of  the  Merrimack  Boating  Company, 
where  the  boats  loaded.  In  the  rear  of  the  house 
are  the  stone  sheds  where  the  stone  men  are  dress- 
ing the  granite,  while  a  train  of  cars,  similar  to 
the  gravel  cars  in  use  on  our  steam  railroads, 
drawn  by  a  tandem  team  of  horses,  are  carrying 
the  blocks  of  granite  to  the  river.  In  the  back- 
ground old  Rattlesnake  rears  its  rugged  sides  and 
quarrymen  are  busily  engaged  in  getting  out  the 
granite. 

The  description  of  "The  New  Hampshire  Gran- 
ite Ledge ' '  as  given  in  this  Gazetteer  is  as  follows : 

"Large  masses  of  granite,  suitable  for  building 
purposes,  exist  here,  the  most  important  of  which 
is  the  New  Hampshire  Granite  Ledge,  a  name  in 


118  Wayside   Jottings 

which  in  an  act  of  incorporation  an  immense  mass 
of  granite  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  town  has 
been  designated.  This  ledge  is  situated  about  two 
miles  northwest  of  the  state  house,  and  is  about 
two  hundred  rods  distant  from  the  Merrimack, 
which  is  navigable  to  this  place  with  boats.  This 
ledge  presents  a  surface  of  massive  primitive  gran- 
ite of  more  than  4,500  square  rods.  The  rift  of 
this  stone  is  very  perfect,  smooth  and  regular; 
splits  are  easily  made  to  the  depth  of  twelve  to 
twenty  feet,  and  of  almost  any  required  length. 
And  unlike  much  of  the  granite  now  in  the  market, 
it  has  been  ascertained  by  an  examination  made  by 
chemists  and  geologists  that  the  stone  is  perfectly 
free  from  oxides,  or  other  mineral  substances, 
which  on  exposure  to  the  atmosphere  mar  the 
beauty  of  much  of  the  New  England  granite. 
.  .  .  From  the  base  of  the  ledge  to  the  bank  of 
the  Merrimack,  a  railway  is  contemplated,  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  ledge  having  obtained  a  charter  for 
that  purpose.  As  the  facility  of  transportation  by 
way  of  the  Merrimack  to  the  markets  becomes 
known,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  upward 
freight  would,  during  a  great  portion  of  the  year, 
go  far  toward  remunerating  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion of  this  stone  to  the  seaboard,  the  situation, 
extent,  and  value  of  this  quarry  will  be  seen  and 
appreciated." 

The  erection  of  the  old  state  prison  in  1812  and 
the  State  House  in  1816-1819  brought  Concord 
granite  into  notice  and  created  a  demand  for  it. 


Wayside   Jottings  119 

It  was  then  dressed  by  the  convicts  in  the  prison 
and  shipped  to  Boston,  through  the  Middlesex 
canal,  by  the  Boating  Company,  and  then  on  to 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  New 
Orleans.  It  was  an  easy  method  of  transportation 
and  a  comparatively  cheap  method.  Of  course, 
it  ceased  in  the  forties  on  the  completion  of  the 
Concord  Railroad  through  the  Merrimack  valley. 
It  is  an  instance  where  the  building  of  a  railroad 
entirely  changed  the  rates  for  freight.  If  the 
Merrimack  was  navigable  to  Concord  it  is  probable 
that  the  output  -of  granite  would  be  greatly  in- 
creased. It  is  said  that  the  proximity  of  the  gran- 
ite quarries  along  the  coast  of  Maine  and  Massa- 
chusetts to  the  shipping  is  what  gives  the  con- 
tractors of  these  localities  the  advantage  in  bidding 
on  proposals  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings. 

From  the  interesting  chapter  in  the  new  "His- 
tory of  Concord"  on  "Material  Development,"  we 
quote  the  following  information  in  regard  to  the 
granite  business : 

' '  Granite  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  prosperity 
of  the  people,  both  in  its  quarrying  and  in  its 
working,  and  yet  its  history  is  not  a  long  one.  In 
a  small  and  irregular  way  it  has  been  used  by 
builders  and  monument  makers  for  a  considerable 
period,  but  its  larger  and  more  extensive  use  has 
only  come  about  within  the  memory  of  many  of 
Concord's  middleaged  citizens. 

"  In  a  money  point  of  view  no  industry  has  con- 
tributed more  largely  and  more  constantly  to  the 


120  Wayside   Jottings 

material  advancement  of  Concord  than  the  granite 
business,  and  none  can  show  more  conspicuous  evi- 
dences of  aggressiveness  and  growth.  From  the 
Rattlesnake  ledges  have  come  many  of  the  most 
costly  and  stately  edifices  now  adorning  cities 
stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi, 
while  in  the  production  of  lesser  but  more  en- 
during works,  such  as  public  shafts  and  private 
monuments,  the  number  would  be  impossible  to 
estimate.  And  yet  the  hidden  wealth  of  the 
shapely  hill  was  touched  into  life  only  a  few  de- 
cades ago.  Simeon  Abbott  used  to  tell  how  his 
father  bought  thirty-six  acres  of  Rattlesnake  Hill 
for  fifty  cents  an  acre,  and  how  he  sold  a  single 
rock  for  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars  to  Goss  & 
Johnson,  who  in  turn  sold  it  on  a  contract  at  the 
state  prison  for  fifteen  hundred  and  forty  dollars, 
where  it  was  hammered  and  sent  to  New  Orleans 
for  the  United  States  custom  house,  and  brought 
the  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars. 

"One  of  the  quarries  on  Rattlesnake  is  known 
as  the  New  England  quarry.  This  quarry  will  go 
down  in  history  as  the  birthplace  of  the  magnificent 
Congressional  Library  at  Washington,  for  from 
here  came  the  material  and  in  the  sheds  of  the  New 
England  Granite  Company  were  cut  and  formed 
the  graceful  and  beautiful  features  of  that  im- 
posing structure.  The  contract  involved  was  one 
of  the  largest  ever  known  in  the  building  world, 
calling  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  cubic 
feet  of  granite  and  one  million  three  hundred 


Wayside   Jottings  121 

thousand  dollars  in  money.  To  complete  the  whole 
contract  required  six  years.  The  work  kept  more 
than  three  hundred  men  busily  employed,  and  the 
money  paid  in  wages  was  not  far  from  one  million 
dollars." 

XXIII. 

Dwellers  in  Concord  will  doubtless  agree  with 
the  writer  that  Lake  Penacook,  known  more  famil- 
iarly as  Long  Pond,  is  one  of  the  fairest  gems,  per- 
haps the  fairest,  in  the  crown  of  the  Capital  City. 
It  is  not  merely  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  with 
picturesque  surroundings,  but  it  is  also  of  great 
practical  benefit,  in  that  it  furnishes,  in  an  abund- 
ant measure,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  town  one 
of  the  greatest  boons  that  mortals  can  have  con- 
ferred on  them.  Lake  Penacook  is  good  illustra- 
tion of  the  union  of  the  beautiful  and  the  practical. 

Sometimes  one  is  inclined  to  be  old-fashioned 
enough  to  indulge  in  the  conceit  that  this  lake  did 
not  come  into  existence  through  evolution,  but  as 
"in  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,"  so  it  was  set  amongst  the  hills  of  West 
Concord,  by  a  divine  hand,  for  the  great  and  ex- 
press purpose  of  furnishing  a  water  supply  when 
other  sources  had  proved  inadequate,  to  a  rural 
city  that  was  to  arise  in  the  valley  of  the  Merri- 
mack,  ages  after  the  fiat  was  pronounced:  "Let 
there  be  a  firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  waters, 
and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from  the  waters."  It 
is  an  inspiring  thought  that  there  was  a  benevolent 


122  Wayside   Jottings 

i 

design  in  the  mind  of  the  Creator  in  the  formation 
of  these  natural  objects  of  lake,  river,  valley  and 
mountain  in  the  old  Granite  State.  Was  it  not,  in 
a  large  degree,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  who 
come  hither  in  increasing  numbers  from  the  cities 
in  the  summer  time,  for  a  renewal  of  their  health 
and  strength?  This  may  be  a  conceit,  but  it  is  a 
harmless  one,  and  would  seem  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Scripture  that  God  created 
all  these  wondrous  objects  of  nature,  and  then 
"created  man  in  His  own  image,"  with  powers  of 
mind  that  were  capable  of  their  enjoyment. 

There  has  been,  however,  an  evolution  that  is 
patent  to  all,  and  that  is  rather  interesting  to  con- 
sider, in  the  methods  that  have  been  in  vogue  for 
supplying  water  here  in  Concord  during  the  one 
hundred  and  eighty-two  years  of  its  history.  It 
shows  the  advance  that  has  been  made  here,  as 
well  as  elsewhere,  in  the  invention  and  in  the  use 
of  means  by  which  household  drudgery  has  been 
shorn  of  a  share  of  burdens. 

The  early  settlers  of  "the  Plantation  of  Pena- 
cook"  depended,  of  course,  on  springs  or  brooks 
for  a  supply  of  water  for  their  dwellings,  and  it 
was  carried  as  it  was  wanted  to.  the  house.  Next 
came  the  well,  dug  as  near  the  house  as  was  prac- 
ticable, and  a  pail,  attached  to  a  pole,  was  let  down 
into  it  and  the  water  was  drawn  up  by  main 
strength.  Then  came  the  well-sweep,  weighted  at 
one  end,  which  was  regarded  as  a  great  improve- 
ment and  a  saving  of  strength.  These  well-sweeps 


Wayside   Jottings  123 

in  the  olden  time  were  about  as  familiar  objects  in 
the  country's  landscape  as  windmills  are  in  Hol- 
land. There  is,  at  least,  one  remaining  on  the  farm 
of  John  Lane,  the  veteran  milkman,  here  in  Con- 
cord, out  on  the  line  of  the  Pleasant  Street  boule- 
vard. Mr.  Lane  is  quite  enthusiastic  over  this 
well,  and  perhaps  some  of  the  older  readers  of  the 
Jottings,  by  bringing  to  mind  recollections  of  the 
earlier  years  of  their  lives  will  agree  with  him  in 
it.  He  says  that  he  can  get  a  cooler  and  more  re- 
freshing drink  of  water  from  the  northwest  corner, 
or  part,  of  this  well,  drawn  up  with  the  aid  of  the 
well-sweep,  than  when  pumped  up  through  a  lead 
pipe  in  the  house. 

Samuel  Woodworth  was  in  this  frame  of  mind 
when  he  wrote  that  famous  and  popular  poem  of 
rural  life,  "The  Old  Oaken  Bucket." 

That  old  oaken  bucket  I  hailed  as  a  treasure, 

When  often,  at  noon,  I  returned  from  the  field. 
I  found  it  the  source  of  an  exquisite  pleasure, 

The  purest  and  sweetest  that  nature  can  yield. 
How  ardent  I  seized  it,  with  hands  that  were  glowing, 

And  quick  to  the  white-pebbled  bottom  it  fell; 
Then  soon,  with  the  emblem  of  truth  overflowing, 

And  dripping  with  coolness,  it  arose  from  the  well. 

How  sweet  from  the  oaken  rim  to  receive  it, 

As  poised  on  the  curb  it  inclined  to  my  lips! 
Not  a  full  blushing  goblet  could  tempt  me  to  leave  it, 

Though  filled  with  the  nectar  that  Jupiter  sips. 
And  now,  far  removed  from  that  loved  habitation, 

The  tear  of  regret  will  intrusively  swell, 
As  fancy  reverts  to  my  father's  plantation, 

And  sighs  for  the  bucket  that  hung  in  the  well. 


124  Wayside   Jottings 

There  is  an  old  well-sweep  on  the  farm  in  Haver- 
hill,  Mass.,  where  Whittier  was  born.  He  refers  to 
it  in  "Snow  Bound,"  and  to  its  appearance  after 
a  big  snow  storm  had  passed  over  the  old  town : 

The   well-curb   had   a   Chinese  roof; 
And  even  the  long  sweep,  high  aloof. 
In  its  slant  splendor  seemed  to  tell 
Of  Pisa's  leaning  miracle. 

Next  the  windlass  was  installed  in  place  of  the 
"long  sweep,"  over  which  a  rope  or  a  chain  wound, 
when  operated  by  a  crank  in  drawing  up  the  water. 
Then  the  pump  came  into  use,  either  a  wooden  one 
placed  over  the  well-curb  in  the  door-yard,  or  an 
iron  or  copper  one  set  handy  to  the  sink  in  the 
kitchen,  and  connected  with  the  well  by  a  lead 
pipe.  Then  the  aqueduct  system  came  into  vogue, 
with  its  wooden  logs,  a  hole  being  bored  through 
the  center  of  them  for  the  water  to  flow  through, 
until  the  lead  pipe  superseded  the  logs,  the  water 
flowing  through  the  logs  and  pipes  from  an  eleva- 
tion on  some  hillside  into  a  cistern  set  in  the  house. 
At  last,  in  this  process  of  evolution,  the  waters  of 
Lake  Penacook  were  brought  into  the  compact  part 
of  the  city,  by  a  system  of  water  works,  so  that  in 
every  dwelling,  in  the  water  precinct,  a  supply  of 
water  as  is  needed,  is  easily  procured  by  the  turn- 
ing of  a  faucet.  And  thus  it  would  seem  that  this 
lake  for  the  last  thirty-six  years,  or  since  January 
14,  1873,  when  the  water  was  first  let  into  the 
pipes,  has  been  fulfilling  the  great  purpose  of  its 
creation. 


Wayside  Jottings  125 

The  history  of  the  inception  and  the  carrying  out 
of  the  project  of  a  water  supply  from  Lake  Pena- 
cook  is  quite  interesting,  but  it  would  be  too  lengthy 
to  be  repeated  in  these  ' '  Jottings. ' '  Suffice  to  say, 
that  the  question  of  providing  an  adequate  water 
supply  for  the  compact  part  of  the  city  waited 
some  years  for  a  satisfactory  answer.  In  the  year 
1829,  the  springs  near  the  base  of  ''Sand  Hill" 
were  considered  a  source  of  supply,  and  the  "Con- 
cord Aqueduct  Association,"  with  a  capital  of 
$2,000,  was  incorporated  and  empowered  to  take 
water  from  this  source  and  ' '  deliver  it  to  customers 
at  such  a  price  as  they  deemed  expedient. ' '  In  the 
year  1849,  Nathan  Call  obtained  a  charter  for 
"The  Torrent  Aqueduct  Association,"  with  a  capi- 
tal of  $20,000.  The  management  of  this  associa- 
tion, after  the  death  of  Mr.  Call,  came  into  the 
hands  of  James  R.  Hill,  and  finally  of  Nathaniel 
White,  who  made  strong  efforts  by  the  utilizing  of 
other  sources  of  water  to  meet  the  increasing  de- 
mands. 

On  December  16,  1859,  a  committee  consisting 
of  Joseph  B.  "Walker,  John  Abbott  and  Benjamin 
Grover,  was  appointed  by  the  city  council  to  in- 
quire into  the  feasibility  and  cost  of  supplying  the 
compact  part  of  the  city  with  water.  This  com- 
mittee made  a  report,  giving  their  preference  to 
Lake  Penacook  for  a  supply,  and  also  gave  an  esti- 
mate of  $172,475  as  the  cost  of  the  introduction 
and  distribution  of  the  water  therefrom.  This 
project  was  held  in  abeyance  for  nearly  eleven 


126  Wayside   Jottings 

years,  when  on  July  30,  1870,  "the  city  council 
appointed  a  committee  of  seventeen,  consisting  of 
Lyman  D.  Stevens,  David  A.  Warde,  Benjamin  S. 
Warren,  Jesse  P.  Bancroft,  Abraham  G.  Jones,  Asa 
McFarland,  James  S.  Norris,  Josiah  Minot,  Nathan- 
iel White,  Daniel  Holden,  James  N.  Lauder,  Ed- 
ward A.  Abbot,  John  Kimball,  John  M.  Hill,  Ben- 
jamin A.  Kimball,  Moses  Humphrey  and  Benning 
W.  Sanborn  to  report  the  best  course  to  be  taken 
to  secure  the  early  introduction  of  pure  fresh  water 
from  Lake  Penacook."  This  committee  reported 
on  the  feasibility  of  the  enterprise,  and  after  vari- 
ous delays  in  obtaining  the  necessary  legislation  in 
reference  to  the  water  rights  of  the  owners  of  the 
West  Concord  mills,  an  ordinance  placing  the  man- 
agement of  the  city  water  works  in  a  board  of 
water  commissioners,  consisting  of  six  citizens,  with 
the  mayor  as  ex-fficio,  was  passed  by  the  city  coun- 
cil on  December  30,  1871.  The  first  board  of  water 
commissioners  consisted  of  Mayor  Abraham  G. 
Jones,  ex-officio;  John  M.  Hill,  Benjamin  A.  Kim- 
ball, Josiah  Minot,  David  A.  Warde,  Benjamin  S. 
Warren  and  Edward  L.  Knowlton.  James  A. 
Weston  of  Manchester  was  appointed  chief  en- 
gineer, and  Charles  C.  Lund  of  Concord  as  assist- 
ant engineer,  and  operations  immediately  com- 
menced. The  American  Gas  and  Water  Pipe  Com- 
pany of  New  Jersey  took  the  contract  to  construct 
and  lay  the  main  line  of  pipe  from  the  lake,  and 
put  in  the  distributing  pipes,  gates,  hydrants,  and 
other  appendages,  for  the  sum  of  $143,882.  Within 


Wayside   Jottings  127 

eight  months  after  the  contractors  commenced  oper- 
ations the  water  was  admitted,  as  before  stated,  on 
January  14,  1873,  into  the  pipes,  "and  thus  it 
was,"  as  Mr.  Hadley  remarks,  "that  the  quiet 
waters  of  Lake  Penacook  began  to  be  utilized  in 
multiform  benefits  to  the  Capital  City. ' ' 

Reference  was  made  to  the  fact  that  in  the  early 
history  of  aqueducts  in  Concord  the  water  was 
brought  through  pine  logs  which  were  bored 
through  lengthwise  with  a  long  pod  auger.  It 
was  a  crude  way  of  bringing  the  water  from  the 
spring  on  the  hillside,  but  lead  pipe  had  not  then 
come  into  use.  This  was  the  case  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  first  aqueduct  in  Boston  in  the 
year  1795,  the  water  being  brought  from  Jamaica 
Pond,  four  miles  distant.  It  is  said  that  it  took 
about  eighteen  miles  of  these  logs  to  conduct  the 
water  through  the  streets  of  the  Hub.  The  same 
method  was  used  in  Hopkinton,  way  back  in  the 
forties,  and  the  writer  remembers  seeing  this  boring 
process  carried  on,  when  a  boy  living  in  the  village ; 
and  it  was  a  wonder  to  him  how  the  hole  could  be 
so  bored  as  invariably  to  go  through  the  center  of 
the  log. 

That  Concord  is  a  fairly  well-watered  locality 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  out  of  a  total  area 
of  about  40,000  acres,  about  2,000  acres  are  cov- 
ered with  water  in  the  form  of  the  various  ponds, 
streams  and  rivers.  Whether  the  fact  of  a  fairly 
good  water  supply  influenced  the  first  settlers  to 
locate  here  the  writer  is  not  informed.  That  this 


128  Wayside   Jottings 

was  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  settlement  of  other 
places  is  evident  in  the  case  of  Boston,  then  known 
by  the  name  of  Shawmut,  where  Gov.  John  Win- 
throp  and  his  associates  settled,  "because  of  the 
excellence  of  the  water."  In  this  connection  it 
might  be  pertinent  to  inquire  if  it  was  any  im- 
provement to  substitue  the  English  name  of  Boston 
for  the  euphonious  Indian  name  of  Shawmut,  which 
means  ''springs  of  living  waters."  Portsmouth  is 
another  instance  where  "springs  of  excellent  qual- 
ity were  found  by  those  who  settled  there."  In 
later  years  these  "excellent  springs"  have  been 
used  in  the  brewing  of  ale  and  beer,  and  for  which 
Old  Strawberry  Bank  is  known  the  world  over. 

The  question  might  arise,  if  in  the  distant  future 
the  present  water  supply  from  Lake  Penacook 
should  prove  inadequate  for  Concord's  needs,  where 
could  an  additional  supply  be  obtained?  The 
answer  would  be  that  underlying  the  city  proper, 
at  least,  at  a  depth  of  something  over  a  thousand 
feet,  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  the  purest  water 
could  be  obtained.  This  is  proven  by  the  sinking, 
in  the  years  1897-1898.  by  John  H.  Toof,  of  an 
artesian  well,  midway  between  Main  and  State 
Streets,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  south 
of  School  Street.  This  well  was  bored  to  a  depth 
of  1,325  feet,  has  a  diameter  of  six  inches,  and 
yields  each  day  between  five  and  six  thousand 
gallons  of  pure  water.  In  confirmation  of  this 
statement,  Joseph  B.  Walker,  who  is  a  good  author- 
ity on  local  matters,  in  the  chapter  in  the  ' '  History 


Wayside   Jottings  129 

of  Concord"  on  "Physical  Features,"  says:  "The 
sinking  of  this  well  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
if,  at  some  future  time,  the  water  from  Lake  Pena- 
cook  should  fail  from  pollution,  insufficiency,  or 
other  causes,  Concord's  citizens  have  in  reserve  an 
inexhaustible  supply  of  pure  water,  to  which  they 
may  freely  resort. ' ' 

If  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  moralize,  the  question 
would  seem  to  be  a  pertinent  one,  What  would  all 
this  system  of  water  pipes  and  hydrants  laid 
through,  or  set  up  alongside  our  streets,  amount  to 
in  the  way  of  labor  saving,  and  especially  in  the 
subduing  of  fires,  if  it  were  not  for  a  law,  that  is 
as  universal  and  immutable  as  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion, that  water  seeks  and  finds  its  level  under  all 
circumstances?  Whatever  the  height  of  the  water 
may  be  at  Lake  Penacook,  it  will  rise  to  the  same 
height  in  any  part  of  the  city  where  the  water 
pipes  are  laid.  In  other  words,  if  the  high  water 
mark  there  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet,  or 
thereabouts,  above  a  base  line  at  low  water  in  the 
Merrimack  at  Concord  bridge,  then  the  writer 
understands  that  in  obedience  to  this  law  the  water 
will  rise  to  that  height  in  a  stand-pipe  erected  at 
the  bridge.  Who,  or  what  made  that  law  so  uni- 
versal in  its  operation?  Evolution,  or  a  wise  and 
beneficent  Creator  of  the  universe  ? 


130  Wayside   Jottings 

XXIV. 

It  does  not  take  a  stranger  long,  when  visiting 
Concord  for  the  first  time,  to  find  out  that  the  trees 
are  very  much  in  evidence  in  all  sections  of  the 
city.  With  the  exception  of  White  Park  and 
Rollins  Park,  they  have  been  mostly  planted  at 
various  periods  of  its  history.  On  some  of  the 
streets  there  seems  to  be  a  superabundance  of  them, 
and  set  so  near  together  that  they  seem,  as  it  were, 
to  lack  elbow  room ;  and,  under  such  conditions, 
the  best  results  in  beauty  and  symmetry  cannot  be 
obtained. 

Perhaps  the  best  view  that  one  can  get  of  Con- 
cord as  a  rural  city  is  obtained  from  the  cupola 
of  the  state  house  on  any  fair  midsummer  day. 
This  point  of  vantage  carries  us  up  above  the  tops 
of  the  tallest  elms  and  maples  that  line  the  streets ; 
the  comfortable  homes  of  the  inhabitants  seem  to 
be  embowered  beneath  them;  while  the  towers  of 
the  churches  peer  through  their  branches,  and  add 
to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  view.  Concord  would 
be  a  dreary  place  to  live  in  if  denuded  of  her  trees. 
Those  who,  in  the  early  years  of  her  history,  were 
far-sighted  enough  to  begin  the  planting  of  shade 
trees  along  the  streets,  builded,  or  rather  planted, 
better  than  they  knew ;  and  to  them  these  lines  are 
especially  applicable : 

Who  plants  n  tree  for  future  years. 
Stays  not  with  his  own  doubts  and  fears. 
But  reaches  out  with  thoughtful  care. 


Wayside   Jottings  131 

With  ardent  hope  and  earnest  prayer, 
To  make  more  bright  and  glad  the  morn 
Of  generations  yet  unborn. 

The  pioneer  in  this  tree  planting  in  Concord  was 
the  Rev.  Timothy  Walker,  the  first  minister  of  the 
town,  who  on  May  22,  1764,  set  out  the  elms  at 
the  Walker  home,  which  was  then  the  parsonage. 
There  were  originally  eight  of  them,  but  three  have 
succumbed  to  old  age,  and  those  remaining  will  in 
time  follow  suit.  In  his  diary,  Mr.  Walker,  against 
the  date  above  given,  makes  this  brief  entry :  ' '  Set 
out  eight  elm  trees  about  my  house."  That  was 
something  over  one  hundred  and  forty-four  years 
ago;  the  elm  saplings  were  probably  a  dozen  years 
old,  so  that  the  remaining  five  of  these  patriarchal 
elms  are  something  over  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  years  old.  A  few  years  ago,  the  largest  of 
these  trees,  three  feet  from  the  ground,  had  a  cir- 
cumference of  eighteen  feet  and  five  inches. 

Some  years  ago  the  entire  length  of  Main  Street 
was  planted  with  shade  trees.  Now,  between  Cen- 
ter and  Pleasant  Streets,  which  mainly  comprises 
the  business  center  of  the  city,  no  trees  remain. 
Mr.  Walker  states  in  his  chapter  on  "Trees,"  in 
the  "History  of  Concord,"  that  "there  were  then 
two  hundred  and  eighty-nine  trees,  mainly  elms 
and  maples,  on  this  street.  The  history  of  the 
Walker  elms  suggests  some  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  to  two  hundred  years  as  the  allotted 
age  in  Concord  of  the  American  elm.  The  plant- 
ing of  shade  trees  along  the  streets  doubtless  origin- 


132  Wayside   Jottings 

ated  in  the  towns  in  Massachusetts,  from  whence 
Concord's  earliest  settlers  came,  and  this  custom 
was  brought  over  from  England." 

Of  course,  the  Webster  elm  at  the  North  End, 
planted  in  1782,  bears  off  the  palm  for  symmetry 
and  beauty.  But  there  is  an  elm  at  the  South  End, 
standing  near  the  junction  of  South  and  Clinton 
Streets,  on  land  belonging  to  Charles  H.  Noyes, 
that  is  a  close  second.  In  fact,  some  of  the  South- 
Enders  think  it  the  equal  of  its  North  End  brother. 
Perhaps  it  would  not  be  an  apt  illustration  to  say 
that  it  was  "a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning," 
but  its  early  history,  as  told  the  writer  by  the  late 
Jeremiah  S.  Noyes,  is  as  follows :  Mr.  Noyes,  when 
a  boy,  lived  in  the  one-story  red  house  near  which 
this  elm  is  standing ;  in  fact,  we  think  he  was  born 
there.  A  clump  of  sapling  elms  was  standing  near 
the  house,  and  his  mother  told  young  Jeremiah  to 
cut  all  of  them  down  but  one.  This  noble  elm  is 
the  sapling  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  an  ap- 
propriate name  for  it  would  be  the  Noyes  elm. 

Further  along  on  Clinton  Street,  at  its  junction 
with  Fruit  Street,  there  is  another  elm  that  is  a 
close  second  to  the  Noyes  elm.  The  writer  is  not 
informed  as  to  its  history,  whether  it  was  planted 
or  came  up  of  its  own  accord.  As  it  stands  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Fruit  Street  from  the  house  where 
the  late  Isaac  Clement  lived,  it  could  appropriately 
be  named  the  Clement  elm. 

When  we  come  to  rock  maples,  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  fine  specimens  on  the  streets  and  in  the 


Concord  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building 


Unitarian  Church 


Wayside   Jottings  133 

parks,  and  especially  on  the  New  Hampshire  State 
Hospital  grounds.  These  are  trees  that  have  had  a 
chance  to  spread  themselves  in  all  directions  like 
the  traditional  "green  bay  tree."  The  writer 
thinks  the  largest  rock  maple  is  standing  before 
the  cottage  near  the  corner  of  Pleasant  and  Fruit 
Streets.  Its  branches  cover  an  area  of  at  least  fifty 
feet,  and  furnish  all  the  shade  that  is  needed  for 
that  domicile.  Another  rock  maple  is  on  the  line 
of  West  "Washington  Street,  just  east  of  its  junction 
with  Warren;  and  two  others  are  out  at  Millville, 
one  in  John  H.  Mercer's  front  yard,  the  other  stand- 
ing in  front  of  the  farm  house,  belonging  to  the  St. 
Paul's  School,  just  beyond  the  Orphans'  Home. 
There  are  but  few  shapely  maples  on  the  line  of 
Concord 's  streets ;  and  on  some  of  the  streets  about 
every  other  tree  ought  to  be  removed.  This  opinion 
is  supported  by  William  Solotaroff,  of  the  "shade 
tree  commission"  of  New  Jersey.  In  an  article  in 
the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  he  says:  "There  can  be 
no  greater  mistake  in  street  tree  planting  than  in 
setting  trees  too  close  together.  After  a  few  years 
they  interfere  with  each  other's  growth,  cut  off 
the  necessary  light  and  air.  Thirty-five  feet,  at 
least,  is  the  average  distance  apart  that  shade  trees 
should  be  set  to  allow  them  room  for  perfect  de- 
velopment." The  writer  lately  noticed  two  large 
trees  on  the  line  of  Pleasant  Street,  one  an  elm, 
and  the  other  a  maple,  standing  within  six  feet  of 
each  other. 

The  writer  has  been  interested  in  the  splendid 


134  Wayside   Jottings 

grove  of  white  oaks  standing  on  the  New  Hamp- 
shire State  Hospital  grounds.  There  must  be  all 
of  a  hundred  of  them,  and  from  their  gnarled 
appearance,  they  have  attained  to  a  good  old  age. 
Probably  there  was  once  an  oak  forest  that  covered 
a  good  part  of  these  grounds,  these  being  the  sur- 
vivors. They  remind  one  of  George  W.  Bungay's 
lines  in  his  "Ode  to  Labor": 

The  monarch  oak,  the  woodland's  pride. 

Whose  trunk  is  seamed  with  lightning  scars, 

Toil  launches  on  the  restless  tide, 
And  there  unfurls  the  flag  of  stars. 

But  there  is  no  more  "launching  on  the  restless 
tide, ' '  or  the  unfurling  ' '  the  flag  of  stars, ' '  on  the 
seventy-four-gun  man-of-war,  for  its  place  is  taken 
by  the  armored  battleship. 

The  monarch  oak,  however,  in  Concord,  was 
planted  by  the  hand  of  Nature  in  a  back  pasture 
on  the  summit  of  Stickney  Hill  in  Ward  Seven. 
In  the  Monitor  of  April  11,  1902,  the  writer  gave 
an  account  of  this  tree,  its  size  and  probable  age. 
It  stood  on  the  farm  of  Isaac  P.  Clifford,  now 
owned  by  W.  "W.  Farwell.  It  measured  at  that 
time  twenty-two  feet  and  three  inches  in  circum- 
ference, three  feet  above  its  base.  Mr.  Clifford 
measured  it  in  1888,  and  in  the  fourteen  interven- 
ing years  there  was  a  gain  of  seven  inches.  If  that 
was  the  rate  of  increase,  year  after  year,  it  was  a 
sturdy  sapling  when  Washington  was  born  in  the 
year  1732,  something  over  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  years  ago,  and  the  writer  took  the  liberty  of 


Wayside   Jottings  135 

naming  it  the  Washington  oak.  The  account  of 
this  oak  in  the  Monitor  came  to  the  notice  of  the 
editor  of  the  Youth's  Companion,  and  in  an  edito- 
rial he  remarked  that,  "although  Doctor  Holmes 
cherished  a  fondness  for  fine  elms,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  he  would  have  appreciated  the  splendid  white 
oak  which  a  correspondent  of  the  Concord  Monitor 
located  on  the  Clifford  farm,  near  the  town  line 
between  Concord  and  Hopkinton,  N.  H.  The  sub- 
stance of  poetry  is  in  a  tree  like  this  which  meas- 
ures twenty-two  feet  and  three  inches  in  circum- 
ference. .  .  .  This  tree  must  have  appeared  in 
the  world  years  before  the  United  States  did.  But 
the  republic,  once  it  took  root,  grew  faster. ' ' 

The  palm  for  majesty  and  beauty  has  generally 
been  awarded  to  the  white  oak,  and  the  red  oak  has 
never  been  very  popular  either  for  shade  or  for  fuel, 
especially  for  fuel,  as  it  is  hard  to  season.  But  in 
an  interesting  volume  of  nearly  three  hundred 
pages,  entitled,  "Our  Trees  and  How  to  Know 
Them,"  Mr.  Clarence  M.  Weed  says:  "The  red 
oak  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  trees  for  shade 
and  ornament.  When  successfully  transplanted, 
it  grows  rapidly,  and  is  an  admirable  tree  for  street 
purposes.  This  species  grows  more  rapidly  than 
other  oaks,  and  thrives  best  in  a  well-drained, 
sandy  clay  soil  where  there  is  a  fair  amount  of 
moisture. ' ' 

From  this  volume  we  also  learn  that  there  are 
one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  varieties  of  trees, — 
aside  from  fruit  trees, — in  the  United  States.  Of 


136  Wayside   Jottings 

these,  there  are  twenty-one  varieties  of  pines,  thir- 
teen of  oak,  eleven  of  birch,  eleven  of  willow  and 
poplar,  eight  of  maples,  seven  of  walnut,  eight  of 
elm,  and  five  of  ash. 

The  most  famous  oak  in  all  New  England  was 
the  Charter  Oak  of  Hartford,  Ct.  It  was  a  white 
oak,  and  the  older  readers  of  the  "Jottings"  espe- 
cially will  remember  the  story  of  this  tree,  as  told 
in  the  history  of  New  England  that  they  studied 
in  the  "little  red  school  house." 

The  story  goes  that  when  James,  Duke  of  York, 
ascended  the  throne  of  England  and  sent  Andros 
to  take  away  all  colonial  charters,  Connecticut 
alone  refused  to  surrender  hers.  Andros  was 
furious  over  this  defiance,  and  October  31,  1687, 
he  returned  to  the  assembly  hall  of  Hartford  with 
a  body  of  soldiers  and  demanded  instant  surrender 
of  the  charter,  which  lay  in  a  box  on  the  table.  A 
hot  discussion  followed.  Finally  Andros  stretched 
out  his  hand  to  seize  the  disputed  paper.  Then 
the  candles  were  suddenly  extinguished,  and  the 
people  who  had  gathered  on  the  street  outside 
rushed  in  a  disorderly  crowd  into  the  hall.  There 
was  a  period  of  wild  confusion  in  the  dark,  and 
when  the  candles  were  finally  re-lighted  no  charter 
was  to  be  found.  It  had  been  removed  by  Captain 
Wadsworth  and  concealed  in  the  oak,  which  ever 
afterward  bore  its  name. 

The  oak  was  even  then  old.  When  the  first 
settlers  were  clearing  their  land  the  Indians  begged 
that  it  might  be  spared.  "It  has  been  a  guide  of 


Kirst  National  Bank   Hmldiiitc 


Wayside   Jottings  137 

our  ancestors  for  centuries,"  they  said,  "as  to  the 
time  of  planting  our  corn.  When  the  leaves  are 
the  size  of  a  mouse's  ears,  then  is  the  time  to  put 
seed  into  the  ground."  The  Indians'  request  was 
granted,  and  the  tree,  afterward  becoming  the 
custodian  of  the  lost  charter,  became  famous  for 
all  time.  It  fell  in  a  windstorm  August  21,  1856, 
and  so  deeply  was  it  venerated  that  at  sunset  on 
the  day  of  its  fall  the  bells  of  the  city  were  tolled 
and  a  band  of  music  played  funeral  dirges  over 
its  ruins. 

XXV. 

If  some  of  the  old-time  storekeepers  of  Concord 
could  re-visit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon,  or  at  least 
that  part  included  in  the  east  side  of  North  Main 
Street,  they  would  get  a  genuine  surprise  in  look- 
ing at  the  store  windows  of  Harry  G.  Emmons  and 
David  E.  Murphy,  which  may  be  considered  as  up- 
to-date  in  all  respects.  One  of  those  old-time  mer- 
chants or  storekeepers,  as  they  were  generally 
called,  was  Col.  Perkins  Gale,  whose  store  was  in 
Sanborn's  old  block.  He  was  rather  peculiar  in 
his  make-up,  and  was  accustomed  to  express  his 
feelings  of  surprise  by  the  expression  "My  life!" 
No  doubt  he  would  use  this  expression  a  number 
of  times  over  if  he  could  take  a  look  at  the  at- 
tractive windows  in  these  stores.  And  if  Gen. 
Joseph  Low,  the  first  mayor  of  Concord,  and  for 
whom  Low's  block  was  named,  could  see  it,  he 
would  hardly  recognize  it  after  the  extensive  re- 


138  Wayside   Jottings 

modelling  and  enlarging  to  which  it  has  been  sub- 
jected. 

How  different  is  the  display  of  goods  as  seen  in 
these  stores,  from  what  was  the  custom  in  former 
times!  The  store  windows  then  contained  only  a 
few  samples  of  goods,  and  these  were  not  changed 
very  often,  and  were  liable  to  become  shopworn. 
Cotton  cloth,  calico,  ginghams,  yarns,  etc.,  was 
about  the  sum  total  of  the  window  display  on  the 
dry  goods  side  of  the  store;  and  a  miscellaneous 
display  in  the  window  of  the  side  of  the  store  given 
over  to  West  India  goods,  hardware,  boots  and 
shoes.  This  was  a  country  store  of  the  olden  time 
and  a  department  store  on  a  small  scale.  It  served 
a  good  purpose,  however,  in  the  distribution  of  the 
necessities  of  life,  and  a  trader  who  conducted  one 
of  them  honestly,  built  up  a  good  trade,  was  trust- 
ed by  his  customers  for  fair  dealings,  retired  when 
along  in  years  with  a  competence.  A  good  illus- 
tration of  this  kind  of  a  merchant,  and  who  has 
not  passed  out  of  the  remembrance  of  the  present 
generation,  was  the  late  Franklin  Evans. 

About  the  year  1850,  or  on  the  completion  of  Ex- 
change block  and  Low's  block,  a  new  and  improved 
style  of  store  window  was  introduced  into  Concord. 
In  place  of  a  small  window  that  generally  jutted 
out  on  the  sidewalk,  a  sort  of  bay  window,  which 
always  had  shutters,  barred  and  bolted  at  night  to 
keep  out  thieves, — a  large  window '  with  four 
squares  of  glass  in  front  and  two  on  the  side,  with 
a  door  in  a  recess, — was  the  style  that  came  into 


Wayside   Jottings  139 

vogue.  This  allowed  a  better  display  of  goods, 
gave  a  better  light  and  made  the  interior  of  the 
store  in  every  way  more  attractive. 

William  W.  Easterbrook  was  probably  the  first 
merchant  in  Concord  to  open  a  store  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  dry  goods.  His  store  was  situated  in 
the  old  Stickney  block,  which  went  up  in  flames 
and  smoke  in  the  great  fire  of  1851.  It  was  on  the 
site  of  the  store  next  south  of  the  drug  store  in 
the  new  Stickney  block,  now  a  part  of  the  J.  M. 
Stewart  Sons'  Company  store.  This  store  was 
known  far  and  near  as  the  " Great  Eight,"  prob- 
ably that  being  the  number  of  the  block  in  which  it 
was  situated.  It  was  advertised  quite  extensively, 
and  for  a  time  did  a  thriving  business,  but  fail- 
ure overtook  the  proprietor,  and  in  the  early  fifties 
he  migrated,  as  so  many  others  did,  to  the  newly 
discovered  El  Dorado  of  California,  and  died  there. 
If  any  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  the 
files  of  the  Concord  papers  way  back  in  the  forties, 
they  will  find  the  "Great  Eight"  advertisements, 
with  pictures  illustrating  the  exterior  and  interior 
of  the  store.  Henry  A.  Newhall  was  another  dry 
goods  merchant.  When  Low's  block  was  built  he 
occupied  the  south  store,  _and  where  in  later  years 
David  E.  Murphy  commenced  his  successful  career. 
Though  there  have  been  a  number  of  changes  in 
the  firms  doing  business  in  this  store,  it  has  always 
been  known  as  a  dry  goods  stand,  and  from  one 
store  it  has  been  enlarged  so  as  to  include  three 
stores. 


140  Wayside   Jottings 

It  is  doubtful  if  there  are  any  descendants  of  the 
old-time  merchants  that  are  doing  business  as  mer- 
chants in  Concord  today.  Prominent  among  these 
were  the  Hutchins,  Charles,  George,  Abel  and 
George  H.  There  were  the  Evans,  Samuel,  Na- 
thaniel, Nathaniel,  Jr.,  and  Franklin.  There  were 
the  Gaults,  William  and  John  A.  Then  in  addi- 
tion to  these  were  Benjamin  Grover,  James  Pev- 
erly,  J.  C.  A.  Hill,  Charles  W.  Sargent,  B.  P. 
Whipple  and  C.  C.  Webster,  in  the  grocery  or  dry 
goods  line;  David  Winkley,  W.  G.  Shaw,  John  G. 
Lincoln  and  F.  C.  and  A.  J.  Edmunds  in  the  cloth- 
ing or  tailoring  line ;  while  Allison  &  Gault,  E.  H. 
Rollins,  H.  B.  Foster  and  Brown  &  Morgan  dis- 
pensed drugs  and  medicines.  Of  all  the  old  firms 
once  in  business  on  North  Main  Street,  only  one, 
T.  W.  &  J.  H.  Stewart,  remains. 

Of  course,  such  stores  as  Emmons',  Robinson's 
and  Murphy 's  contain  a  much  larger  stock  of  goods 
and  a  greater  variety  than  can  be  found  in  smaller 
stores.  The  result  is  that  the  latter  are  crowded 
out  of  business.  And  there  are  only  three  strictly 
dry  goods  stores  on  North  Main  Street,  where  not 
many  years  ago  there  were  at  least  seven  or  eight. 
Whether  this  consolidation  will  extend  in  time  to 
other  branches  of  trade,  so  that  there  will  be  only 
three  clothing  stores,  in  place  of  five,  or  two  shoe 
stores  in  place  of  the  same  number,  is,  of  course, 
not  known.  There  was  an  elimination  of  two  of 
these  stores  in  1906,  when  the  Emmons  store  was 
enlarged  by  the  taking  in  of  the  Adams  &  Hutch- 


X.  II.  Saving*  Hank 
K.  ('.  KaHtiiniii't  Bookstore 


Wayside   Jottings  141 

inson  clothing  store,  and  the  Murphy  store  was  en- 
larged by  the  taking  in  of  the  store  occupied  by 
C.  W.  Clark  &  Son. 


XXVI. 

The  writer  not  long  ago  had  a  conversation  with 
Calvin  C.  Webster,  the  veteran  grocer,  who  is  still 
in  business  on  South  Main  Street  (since  deceased). 
He  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest  gro- 
ceryman  now  in  the  trade  in  Concord,  and  dates 
his  commencement  in  this  business  way  back  in  the 
forties,  when  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  late 
George  Hutchins  as  clerk,  and  who  kept  an  old-time 
country  store  on  the  east  side  of  North  Main  Street, 
just  north  of  the  old  Phenix  Hotel.  Mr.  Webster 
served  as  an  apprentice  in  the  business  for  four 
years,  receiving  a  stipulated  sum  of  money  for  his 
services,  with  an  increase  of  $25  a  year  during  this 
time.  It  was  at  an  interesting  period  in  the  history 
of  Concord,  at  a  time  when  the  town  was  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad  to  Boston,  and  passengers 
to  and  from  the  towns  to  the  north  and  west  were 
conveyed  by  stage,  and  freight  by  teams,  so  that 
the  place  was  an  important  center  for  travel  and 
trade,  and  the  taverns  and  stores  on  Main  Street 
greatly  profited  thereby. 

George  Hutchins  will  be  remembered  by  old  resi- 
dents of  Concord  as  an  energetic  business  man,  and 
anyone  in  his  employ  got  a  practical  training  that 
was  valuable  to  him  in  after  years.  In  those  days, 


142  Wayside   Jottings 

all  of  the  stores  kept  a  variety  of  goods  for  sale, 
such  as  dry  goods,  groceries,  hardware,  crockery, 
boots  and  shoes,  and  as  "General  Putnam,"  the 
old-time  crier  of  Concord,  used  to  say,  when  closing 
an  announcement  of  an  auction,  "other  articles  too 
numerous  to  mention."  Although  there  were  quite 
a  number  of  country  stores  on  Main  Street  in  those 
times,  those  that  did  the  most  business  were  the 
stores  at  the  North  End,  kept  by  Pecker  &  Lang, 
which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  residence  of  Henry 
McFarland,  the  store  of  Mr.  Hutchins,  and  one  at 
the  south  end  of  Main  Street.  Afterwards  the 
stores  became  more  specialized,  so  that  stores  de- 
voted mainly  to  dry  goods,  boots  and  shoes,  hard- 
ware and  other  kinds  of  goods  have  nearly  super- 
seded the  variety  stores.  The  department  stores  in 
our  large  cities  are  patterned  after  the  country 
store  of  sixty  years  ago,  though  of  course  a  larger 
assortment  of  goods  is  kept  for  sale. 

Mr.  Webster  having  finished  his  four  years'  ser- 
vice with  Mr.  Hutchins,  as  clerk,  about  the  year 
1850,  much  to  Mr.  Hutchins'  regret,  decided  to  go 
into  the  grocery  business  for  himself.  He  formed 
a  partnership  with  Mr.  Tuttle,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Webster  &  Tuttle,  They  bought  out  the  stock 
of  goods  and  good  will  of  Samuel  Evans,  who  was 
doing  business  in  a  store  that  was  situated  in  the 
three-story  wooden  building  that  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  Smith  block.  This  firm  was  the  first  to  make 
an  innovation  in  the  matter  of  delivering  goods  to 
their  customers,  which  has  continued  to  the  present 


Wayside   Jottings  143 

time,  in  that  a  delivery  wagon  was  employed  for 
carrying  out  groceries.  Prior  to  this  time,  cus- 
tomers either  carried  home  their  purchases  in  their 
arms,  or  if  too  heavy  to  carry  in  that  way,  a  wheel- 
barrow was  called  into  service..  Henry  McFarland, 
in  his  ' '  Sixty  Years  in  Concord, ' '  says :  ' '  No  grocer 
of  that  day  delivered  by  wagon  the  goods  sold  to 
his  customers.  He  surrendered  the  commodities 
at  his  store,  and  the  purchaser  got  them  home  as 
best  he  could.  In  such  a  case  a  wheelbarrow  was 
used,  and  my  father  would  despatch  me  to  the 
grocery  store  of  Deacon  Nathaniel  Evans,  which 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  Chase  block." 

A  picture  of  Main  Street  taken  in  the  forties,  or 
in  the  early  years  of  the  fifties,  if  compared  with 
one  taken  now,  would  show  an  almost  complete 
change  in  its  appearance.  The  buildings  that  have 
survived  this  lapse  of  time  are  the  wooden  build- 
ings on  the  west  side  of  the  street,  one  occupied  by 
H.  P.  Bowers,  just  north  of  the  Masonic  Temple, 
and  the  New  American  House,  opposite  Bridge 
Street.  All  on  the  east  side  of  the  street  have  been 
substantially  rebuilt,  the  wooden  buildings  that 
were  mostly  destroyed  by  fire  have  been  replaced 
by  brick  blocks  more  or  less  ornate  in  their  style  of 
architecture.  But  as  great  a  change  has  taken 
place  in  the  individuals  and  firms  that  carried  on 
business  in  the  stores  on  the  line  of  the  street. 
Only  two  firms  that  were  doing  business  in  the 
years  of  which  we  speak  are  in  trade  today,  and 
these  are  not  doing  business  at  the  old  stands.  The 


144  Wayside   Jottings 

firm  of  T.  W.  &  J.  H.  Stewart,  tailors,  and  Calvin 
C.  Webster,  grocer,  are  the  only  ones.  James 
Hazelton,  who  retired  a  few  years  ago,  was  in  the 
millinery  business,  and  Henry  B.  Foster,  recently 
deceased,  was  the  last  of  the  old  apothecaries. 

Suppose  we  could  turn  back  the  tide  of  time  and 
walk  up  Main  Street  and  note  the  firms  and  stores 
as  they  were  in  the  early  fifties.  Starting  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Pleasant  Streets,  and  going  up 
the  west  side  we  should  find  the  following  stores 
and  firms:  On  the  corner  of  Pleasant  Street  was 
the  store  of  "W.  P.  Hardy,  grocer ;  in  the  next  build- 
ing the  liquor  store  of  D.  G.  Fuller;  following 
along  we  find  Currier  &  Knox,  stoves  and  tinware; 
Nathaniel  Evans,  grocer ;  Morrill  &  Silsby,  printers 
and  bookbinders;  Olds  &  Edmunds,  tailors.  In 
the  Odd  Fellows'  building  were  C.  S.  Rogers, 
grocer,  and  H.  B.  Foster,  drugs  and  medicines. 
From  Warren  Street  to  School  Street  were  the  fol- 
lowing: On  the  corner  at  Warren  and  Main 
Streets  were  three  "ten  footers"  in  which  were 
York's  auction  store;  James  Hazelton,  millinery; 
J.  D.  Cooper,  brass  founder.  Further  along  the 
street  were  Col.  William  Kent's  insurance  office; 
C.  W.  Allen,  barber;  Chase  Hill,  boots  and  shoes; 
H.  Fessenden,  harnesses;  Currier  &  Hall,  book- 
binders; ending  with  Deacon  B.  Damon's  home,  on 
the  south  corner  of  School  and  Main  Streets. 

On  the  north  corner  of  School  Street,  where  is 
now  the  Board  of  Trade  building,  was  the  home  of 
William  Low,  then  next  the  Morse  telegraph  office, 


Eaple  Hotel 


Wayside   Jottings  145 

Columbian  Hotel,  Thomas  Stuart,  landlord;  while 
in  the  Ayer  block,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
state  house  yard  were  the  stores  of  Franklin  Evans, 
Benjamin  Grover,  variety  stores;  and  the  Franklin 
book  store,  kept  by  John  F.  Brown.  The  Ameri- 
can House,  John  Gass,  landlord,  stood  on  the  corner 
of  Main  and  Park  Streets ;  then  B.  Palmer,  apothe- 
cary; J.  P.  Kimball,  grocer;  James  Jones,  gun- 
smith; M.  M.  Kelsey,  millinery;  and  J.  E.  Lang, 
insurance,  these  last  two  occupying  the  lower  story 
of  what  is  now  the  New  American  House. 

On  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  commencing  at 
the  corner  of  Pleasant  Street  Extension,  we  would 
find  the  Elm  House,  Carter  &  Priest,  landlords; 
the  home  of  H.  Fessenden;  the  old  Rogers  house 
on  the  site  of  the  First  National  Bank.  On  the 
north  corner  of  Main  and  Depot  Streets  was  the 
three-story  wooden  block,  occupied  by  tenements 
in  both  ends  and  in  the  center  by  stores  of  S.  Evans 
and  B.  P.  Whipple,  grocers.  An  old  wooden  build- 
ing stood  on  the  site  of  Phenix  block,  occupied 
by  the  Wymans  as  a  meat  market.  Next  was  the 
old  Phenix  Hotel,  A.  C.  Pierce,  landlord;  north  of 
it  the  store  of  Hutchins  &  Co.,  dry  goods,  the  eating 
house  of  Sinclair  &  Leighton;  the  shoe  store  of 
L.  A.  Hazelton ;  and  the  restaurant  of  Samuel 
Clark;  these  last  two  places  of  business  being  in 
the  Athenian  building,  which  stood  on  the  site  of 
the  Cyrus  Hill  block.  Next  we  come  to  the  Low 
block,  one  of  the  first  brick  blocks  erected  in  Con- 
cord, occupied  by  T.  W.  &  J.  H.  Stewart,  tailors; 
10 


146  Wayside   Jottings 

Cyrus  Hill,  hatter;  H.  A.  Newhall,  dry  goods; 
J.  G.  Lincoln,  tailor;  then  we  come  to  the  "ten 
footers,"  occupied  respectively  by  L.  D.  Evans, 
boots  and  shoes ;  S.  G.  Sylvester,  picture  frames  and 
matches;  B.  Gage,  boots  and  shoes;  G.  Bullock, 
grocer;  J.  B.  Stanley,  jeweler;  B.  W.  Sanborn, 
book  store;  and  Tripp  &  Osgood,  printers  and  sta- 
tioners. In  the  Exchange  block  were  James  Pev- 
erly,  boots  and  shoes;  Dustin  &  Shaw,  clothing; 
Allison  &  Gault,  druggists;  Porter  &  Rolfe,  hard- 
ware. Then  next  was  the  Eagle  Coffee  House,  Wil- 
liam Walker,  landlord;  the  two  stores  in  each  end 
of  it  being  occupied  respectively  by  J.  Carter, 
jeweler;  J.  &  C.  Munroe,  confectioners.  Next  we 
come  to  the  Stickney  new  block,  the  south  store  oc- 
cupied by  E.  H.  Rollins,  druggist;  N.  Evans,  Jr., 
tailor;  W.  H.  Page,  carpetings  and  crockery;  J.  P. 
Johnson,  dry  goods;  Moore  &  Cilley,  hardware. 
From  this  point  to  Bridge  Street  were  the  two  old 
Stickney  blocks,  the  stores  of  which  were  occupied 
by  M.  M.  Chick,  jeweler;  D.  M.  Dearborn,  music 
store;  J.  Grover,  hatter;  A.  Webster,  grocer;  C. 
Thorn,  boots  and  shoes;  J.  D.  Johnson,  harness 
maker.  This,  we  believe,  is  a  complete  list,  or  at 
least  a  nearly  complete  one,  of  those  who  were  in 
business  on  Main  Street  at  the  time  we  have  men- 
tioned. Most  of  the  buildings  and  blocks  in  which 
they  were  located  went  up  in  flame  and  smoke,  and 
to  this  fact  we  are  mainly  indebted  for  this  change 
in  the  appearance  of  the  street.  Those  who  were 
in  business  have  nearly  all  gone  to  "that  bourne 


Wayside   Jottings  147 

from  which  no  traveller  returns."  And  it  is  a 
pertinent  question  to  ask,  who  of  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  Main  Street  today  will  be  doing  so  fifty 
years  from  now,  or  in  the  year  1957. 

XXVII. 

Concord  has  not  usually  been  regarded  as  a 
manufacturing  city,  nevertheless  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  manufacturing  plants  in  this  old  town, 
which,  if  brought  in  proximity  to  one  another, 
together  with  the  homes  of  the  employees,  would 
make  a  good-sized  village.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
plants  at  the  South  End,  in  Wards  Six,  Seven  and 
Eight,  which  comprise  the  Boston  &  Maine  Rail- 
road shops,  the  Holt  Brothers  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, the  Hutchinson  Building  Company,  the  Ab- 
bot-Downing Company,  and  the  Ford  &  Kimball 
Foundry  plant.  In  all  these,  we  should  find  that 
a  large  amount  of  work  is  being  done  year  in  and 
year  out,  by  probably  a  thousand  or  more  skilled 
mechanics  and  machinists,  who  find  employment  in 
these  various  avocations.  If  the  Creator  of  the 
universe  had  so  ordered  it,  or,  perhaps,  to  be  more 
strictly  up-to-date,  if  evolution  had  evoluted  in 
such  a  way  that  Sewall's  Falls  had  been  located 
further  down  stream,  say  near  the  Loudon  bridge, 
then  Concord  would  have  stood  a  good  chance  to  be 
classed  as  one  of  the  manufacturing  cities  on  the 
banks  of  the  Merrimack. 

While  Concord  has  also  the  reputation  of  being 


148  Wayside   Jottings 

one  of  the  pleasantest  rural  cities  in  New  England, 
at  least,  do  any  of  its  dwellers  ever  think  of  the 
amount  of  mental,  not  to  say  of  physical,  suffering 
that  is  here  experienced,  probably  exceeding  that 
of  any  other  city  in  the  state?  The  New  Hamp- 
shire Hospital  for  the  Insane  is  pleasantly  located, 
we  might  say  ideally  located.  In  this  institution, 
which  covers  more  ground  than  any  other  in  the 
city  or  state,  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  mental 
suffering  among  its  six  hundred  or  more  inmates. 
Then  there  are  the  state  prison,  the  Margaret  Pills- 
bury  and  the  Memorial  Hospitals,  and  we  have  in 
all  these  institutions  as  inmates  those  who  are  ex- 
periencing the  shady  side  of  human  existence  and 
to  whom  life  seems  to  be  hardly  worth  the  living. 
How  few  of  our  citizens  who  are  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  their  reason  and  their  health,  who  have 
nice  homes  and  are  pleasantly  situated  in  life,  with 
a  good  bank  account,  ever  bestow  a  thought,  or  per- 
haps care  for  the  conditions  that  through  various 
causes  overtake  their  more  unfortunate  brothers 
and  sisters  of  the  human  family! 

It  is  some  over  twenty-six  years  since  the  horse 
cars  commenced  running  through  Main  Street  to 
West  Concord,  and  twenty-three  years  since  they 
commenced  running  to  Penacook,  to  be,  in  turn, 
succeeded  by  the  electrics  about  seventeen  years  ago. 
How  many,  as  they  take  the  pleasant  trip  from  the 
South  End  terminus  to  West  Concord  or  Penacook, 
ever  think  of  Moses  Humphrey,  to  whom,  perhaps, 
more  than  to  anyone  else,  we  are  indebted  for  this 


Wayside   Jottings  149 

cheap  and  convenient  mode  of  transit?  He  began 
agitating  the  subject  of  a  street  railroad  when  he 
had  attained  the  age  of  seventy-three  years.  He 
became  its  building  agent  and  afterwards  its  super- 
intendent, and  this  at  an  age  when  most  men  feel 
like  retiring  from  active  life.  In  the  face  of  some 
opposition,  he  kept  "everlastingly  at  it"  until  the 
line  to  West  Concord  was  completed  and  the  first 
"bob-tail  car"  ran  from  the  Abbot-Downing  shops, 
where  it  was  built,  to  Fosterville,  on  April  21, 
1881.  Horses,  at  first,  it  will  be  remembered,  were 
used  in  drawing  the  cars  all  their  weary  way  to 
Penacook ;  afterwards  a  ' '  dummy ' '  engine  was  em- 
ployed in  drawing  them  to  and  from  Fosterville 
and  Penacook.  At  that  time,  as  the  writer  remem- 
bers it,  the  running  of  this  engine  south  of  Foster- 
ville was  not  allowed  because  it  was  not  considered 
safe  to  have  it  go  through  the  center  of  Main 
Street.  That  was  a  few  years  before  the  "auto- 
mobile craze"  struck  the  country.  How  much 
more  dangerous  would  it  be  for  this  engine  to  pass 
at  regular  intervals  along  Main  Street  at  a  mod- 
erate rate  of  speed,  and  on  a  track,  than  it  is  now 
for  a  large  touring  car  to  speed  along  as  it  is 
a  mind  to  and  taking  any  part  of  the  street  for 
its  course?  The  automobile,  it  is  said,  "has  come 
to  stay. ' '  If  so,  and  it  is  not  practicable  or  too  ex- 
pensive to  have  separate  roads  for  the  auto  out  in 
the  country,  then  turn  outs  ought  to  be  made, 
especially  on  the  narrow  highways,  similar  to  those 


150      •  Wayside   Jottings 

that  are  made  in  the  winter  time  when  the  snow 
is  deep  and  passing  is  difficult. 

Some  idea  of  what  the  railways,  both  steam  and 
electric,  have  done  for  Concord,  can  be  formed 
from  a  reading  of  Henry  McFarland's  interesting 
chapter  on  "Concord  as  a  Railroad  Center,"  in 
the  new  ' '  History  of  Concord. ' '  He  says :  ' '  There 
are  now  within  the  city  limits  twenty-nine  and  twor 
tenths  miles  of  main  tracks  and  thirty-six  and 
eight-tenths  miles  of  sidetracks,  almost  enough  to 
build  a  single  track  road  on  an  air  line  to  Boston. 
The  steam  and  electric  car  tracks  within  the  city 
limits  aggregate  over  eighty-three  miles.  Existing 
station  buildings  cover  ten  and  one-half  acres  of 
ground,  and,  including  the  right  of  way,  are  valued 
at  $719,312.34;  not  much  less  than  half  the  taxable 
valuation  of  the  whole  town  as  published  in  the 
journal  of  the  Legislature  of  1840.  The  chief  of 
these  buildings  is  the  passenger  station  and  train 
shed,  covering  100,000  square  feet  of  area.  It  was 
built  in  1885,  at  a  cost  of  $250,000,  from  designs 
made  by  Bradford  L.  Gilbert  of  New  York,  and 
its  excellences  have  been  so  apparent  to  railroad 
men  that  the  same  architect  was  afterward  em- 
ployed to  plan  the  reconstruction  of  the  Grand 
Central  Station  in  New  York.  The  railway  shops 
at  the  South  End,  constructed  in  1897,  occupy  six 
and  fifteen  one-hundredths  acres  of  a  seventy-acre 
tract.  The  great  freight  yard  east  of  the  passenger 
station  occupies  an  area  of  fifty  acres  and  cost 
about  $150,000.  It  requires  twelve  switching 


Wayside   Jottings  151 

crews  (one  hundred  and  sixteen  men),  and  has 
been  regarded  as  the  best  similar  yard  in  the  coun- 
try. Counting  each  arrival  and  departure,  there 
are  about  one  hundred  tfaily  passenger  and  freight 
trains  in  the  summer  season,  and  the  remark  of  an 
editorial  wag  years  ago  that  our  railway  facilities 
were  such  that  a  man  could  start  from  here  to  go 
anywhere  is  abundantly  justified.  The  average 
number  of  railway  employees  at  Concord  is  now 
1,346,  and  the  yearly  payrolls  aggregate  $801,170." 
But  how  about  the  new  method  of  transportation 
through  the  upper  air?  Are  we  to  have  a  balloon 
craze,  the  same  as  we  have  had  an  automobile 
craze?  Will  the  balloon  put  the  other  modes  of 
transit  out  of  commission?  C.  J.  Glidden,  who 
will  be  remembered  as  the  originator  of  the  flying 
automobile  trip  through  this  state  a  few  years 
since,  says:  "The  next  thing  we  shall  have  is 
cross-Atlantic  trips  by  balloon.  An  elevation  of 
three  miles  would  bring  you  to  a  wind  moving  say 
fifty  miles  an  hour  and  with  the  aid  of  that  you 
would  make  the  trip  to  Europe  in  about  sixty 
hours.  I  think  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  we 
shall  order  a  balloon  as  we  order  a  carriage.  Com- 
panies are  already  formed  for  that  purpose,  and 
with  balloons,  you  know,  there  is  positively  no 
danger."  Perhaps  not,  Mr.  Glidden,  but  the  most 
of  us  feel  safer  on  terra  firma. 


152  Wayside   Jottings 

XXVIII. 

Dwellers  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack  should 
be  proud  of  the  river  thaj  meanders  in  its  some- 
what devious  course  through  the  fertile  intervales. 
Whittier's  birthplace  was  in  this  valley,  and  in  his 
poem,  "Our  River,"  he  says  that  it  is  "mountain 
born,"  and  he  adds: 

The  heathen  streams  of  nninds  boast, 
But  ours  of  man  nnd  woman. 

That  it  is  "mountain  born"  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  it  mainly  takes  its  rise  in  the  "White 
Hills,"  where  its  headwaters  as  far  as  the  City  of 
Franklin  are  known  as  the  Pemigewasset ;  while, 
on  its  course  to  the  sea,  it  receives  the  waters  of 
the  Winipesaukee,  the  Contoocook,  the  Soucook, 
the  Suncook,  the  Piscataquog,  the  Souhegan,  and 
the  Nashua,  all  Indian  names;  until  at  its  mouth, 
in  the  old  town  of  Newburyport,  it  resolves  itself 
into  "old  ocean's  gray  and  melancholy  waste." 

Probably  there  is  no  valley  in  the  world  that  has 
a  more  intelligent,  industrious  and  law-abiding 
population  than  the  Merrimack.  Its  water-power 
is  said  to  turn  more  spindles  than  any  other  river 
in  the  world ;  and  Manchester,  Nashua.  Lowell  and 
Lawrence  are  a  great  quartette  of  manufacturing 
cities  in  which  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts 
may  well  take  pride. 

While  the  Merrimack  is  now  mainly  employed  in 
turning  the  turbines  in  the  cotton  mills  along  its 
course,  in  the  former  days,  before  the  era  of  rail- 


Wayside   Jottings  153 

roads,  for  a  portion  of  the  year  it  served  as  a 
waterway  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise  up 
and  down  stream  in  canal-boats  or  barges.  It  com- 
prised the  period  between  the  year  1814,  when  the 
first  boat  of  the  Merrimack  Boating  Company 
made  its  upward  trip  to  Concord,  and  the  year 
1842,  when  the  Concord  Railroad  was  completed  to 
that  place  and  the  boating  days  on  the  Merrimack 
were  numbered. 

A  reminder  of  this  method  of  transportation  is 
seen  in  "Hayward's  Gazetteer  of  New  England," 
published  in  1839,  in  which  an  engraving  of  the 
storehouse  of  this  boating  company  at  Concord, 
which  stood  mainly  over  the  water  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  so  as  to  permit  the  boats  to  pass 
under  it  to  load  and  unload  their  freight.  In  the 
foreground  is  seen  a  canal-boat  under  sail  com- 
mencing its  voyage  down  the  river.  It  was  here 
that  President  Monroe,  on  his  visit  to  New  Hamp- 
shire in  the  year  1817,  embarked  on  a  boat  named 
the  President,  to  view  the  beautiful  scenery  along 
the  river  banks  and  to  pass  through  the  canal  locks 
at  Garvin  's  Falls,  some  four  miles  below. 

Those  who  have  ridden  on  the  Southern  Division 
of  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  in  the  summertime, 
from  Concord  to  Lowell,  or  vice  versa,  do  not  need 
to  be  told  that  as  the  route,  for  the  most  of  the  way, 
lies  along  the  river 's  banks,  the  views  are  beautiful. 
So  in  these  old  boating  days,  as  a  writer  in  the  new 
''History  of  Concord"  has  expressed  himself: 

"There  must  have  been  a  charm  to  the  Merri- 


154  Wayside   Jottings 

mack  in  the  days  of  this  inland  navigation.  There 
was  nowhere  more  delightful  water,  no  greener 
shores,  no  more  fragrant  air,  no  sweeter  bird-songs. 
Here  was  the  leap  and  splash  of  the  salmon,  there 
a  cloud  of  pigeons  that  ought  never  to  have  been 
called  wild  and  are  now  almost  extinct.  The  sound 
of  the  boatman's  horn  floated  along  the  valley. 
Sails  could  be  seen  across  points  of  land,  and  con- 
jecture busied  itself  as  to  whose  might  be  the 
coming  boat.  To  a  careless  observer  this  might 
seem  the  land  of  the  lotus;  but  Toil  stood  beside 
the  boatman." 

That  "Toil  stood  beside  the  boatman"  is  seen  in 
the  way  that  the  boat  was  pushed  along  its  course 
by  main  strength  in  the  fifty  miles  of  upward  trip 
from  the  junction  of  the  Merrimack  with  the  Mid- 
dlesex canal  two  miles  above  the  City  of  Lowell. 
The  main  means  of  propulsion  against  the  current 
were  the  "setting-poles"  in  the  hands  of  two  hardy 
boatmen.  These  poles,  commonly  called  "pike- 
poles,"  were  about  fifteen  feet  in  length,  two 
inches  in  diameter,  made  round  and  smooth  out  of 
white  ash,  with  the  lower  end  armed  with  an  iron 
point.  To  propel  the  boat  by  "poling,"  a  boat- 
man stood  on  either  side  of  the  bow  and  thrust 
the  pike  end  of  his  pole  down  beside  the  boat  in 
a  slanting  direction  toward  the  stern,  until  it 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  river,  he  placed  his 
shoulder  against  the  end  of  the  pole;  with  his  feet 
braced  against  the  cross  timbers  in  the  bottom  of 
the  boat,  and  exerted  his  whole  strength  to  push 


Wayside   Jottings  155 

the  boat  forward.  As  the  boat  moved  onward,  he 
stepped  along  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  still  bracing 
his  shoulders  firmly  against  the  pole.  When  he 
had  reached  the  stern,  he  walked  forward  to  the 
bow,  trailing  the  pike-pole,  where  he  thrust  it  in 
again  to  the  river  bottom,  and  thus  repeated  the 
pushing  process  for  the  whole  distance  from  Lowell 
to  Concord. 

The  passage  down  stream  was,  of  course,  easier 
and  quicker,  the  boatmen  relying  principally  on 
"scull"  oars  for  the  means  of  propulsion,  along 
with  the  current.  These  oars  were  about  the  same 
length  as  the  pike-poles,  having  six-inch  blades  on 
the  lower  part  of  the  oars. 

The  quickest  trip  was  made  in  1833  by  Samuel 
Hall,  John  Ray  and  Joseph  M.  Rowell,  who  started 
with  a  boat-load  from  the  mouth  of  the  Piscata- 
quog  at  eight  o'clock  a.  m.  on  June  30,  went  to 
Boston,  got  a  boat-load  of  goods  and  reached  their 
starting  point  on  the  evening  of  July  3,  having 
been  only  four  days  on  the  trip.  The  last  trip  of 
a  boat  through  the  Middlesex  canal  was  made  in 
the  year  1851. 

As  a  rule,  travel  was  suspended  at  sunset,  the 
boatmen  planning  to  be  near  a  convenient  stopping 
place  along  the  route  at  nightfall,  where  the  boat 
was  tied  up  for  the  night.  The  passage  through 
the  Middlesex  canal  from  Boston  to  Lowell  con- 
sumed one  day ;  another  day  enabled  them  to  reach 
Cromwell's  Falls,  fifteen  miles  further  up  the 
stream ;  the  third  day  took  them  through  the  Amos- 


156  Wayside   Jottings 

keag   locks,   and   the   fourth,   everything   proving 
favorable,  found  them  at  their  destination. 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  the  adventurous  lives 
led  by  these  boatmen  tended  to  bring  out  the 
rougher  element  of  their  natures;  but  they  were 
always  faithful  to  duty,  kind-hearted  to  a  fellow- 
being  in  distress,  and  many  of  them  carried  be- 
neath their  coarse  jackets  more  than  an  ordinary 
allowance  of  real  manhood.  They  belonged  to  a 
necessary  class  of  citizens  in  their  day,  which  in 
the  evolution  of  the  swiftly  following  years  has 
been  supplanted  by  another,  and  only  a  memory 
of  their  usefulness  remains.  The  shriek  of  the 
locomotive  whistle  ended  the  boatman's  song,  while 
his  inspiring  watchword,  as  he  toiled  laboriously 
toward  the  upper  waters  of  old  Amoskeag,  'One 
more  stroke  for  old  Derryfield,'  found  a  death- 
knell  in  the  heartless  snort  of  the  iron  horse,  which 
threw  at  once  these  hardy  boatmen  out  of  the  only 
employment  they  knew." 

XXIX. 

Not  only  has  the  Merrimack  in  former  days  been 
the  means  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise, 
as  was  stated  in  the  last  number  of  these  "Jot- 
tings," but  in  the  midway  years  of  the  last  century, 
timber,  cut  in  the  north  country,  in  the  shape  of 
pine  and  spruce  logs,  was  floated  down  the  river  to 
the  sawmills  in  Lowell  and  there  made  ready  for 
market.  Just  when  this  method  of  getting  this 


Wayside   Jottings  157 

kind  of  raw  material  down  the  river  commenced, 
or  when  it  ceased,  the  writer  is  not  informed. 
But  while  the  Merrimack  was  thus  utilized  employ- 
ment was  given  to  a  class  of  hardy  red-shirted  river 
men,  called  the  "Norcross  men,"  who  were  em- 
ployed by  the  firm  of  Norcross  &  Co.,  having 
its  headquarters  at  Lowell.  These  men  were  also 
practical  lumbermen,  and  went  into  the  •  woods 
in  the  winter,  felled  the  pines  or  spruces,  hauled 
them  with  their  ox  teams  out  on  the  ice  in  the  river, 
and  when  it  broke  up  in  the  spring  and  was  bank- 
full  the  logs  were  carried  down  stream  in  large 
numbers ;  and  these  river  men  followed  along  after 
them  to  their  destination.  Their  work  was  mainly 
to  break  up  the  "jams"  of  logs  that  formed  against 
the  piers  of  bridges  and  to  draw  with  their  teams 
those  that  got  stranded  on  the  shores  of  the  river. 
They  pitched  their  camp  at  intervals  near  the  bank 
of  the  river,  where  they  ate  and  slept.  The  oxen 
drew  their  outfit  from  place  to  place.  They  were 
a  rough  class  of  men ;  it  was  rough  work  and  some- 
what dangerous  withal,  and  they  incurred  a  good 
deal  of  risk.  Probably  there  was  hardly  a  year 
that  some  of  these  men  did  not  meet  their  death 
by  drowning.  The  piers  of  the  bridges  and  vari- 
ous falls  on  the  river  were  the  most  dangerous 
places.  Of  the  latter,  there  were  in  this  section 
of  the  state  Sewall's  Falls  in  Concord,  Turkey  and 
Garvin's  Falls  in  Bow,  Hookett  Falls  in  Hooksett, 
Amoskeag  and  Goff's  Falls  in  Manchester.  The 
"jams"  that  were  formed  at  the  piers  of  the 


158  Wayside   Jottings 

bridges  were  broken  up,  one  might  say,  in  a  scien- 
tific manner.  There  was  usually  one  or  more  logs 
next  to  the  pier  that  held  the  others  back  and  it 
was  the  work  of  these  men  to  get  at  these  logs  and 
free  them  from  the  rest.  When  they  had  suc- 
ceeded the  whole  jam  would  swing  around  into 
the  current  and  float  down  stream  again.  When 
the  jam  started  on  its  way  the  men  had  a  lively 
time  in  getting  to  the  shore.  This  operation  had 
to  be  repeated,  usually  at  every  bridge  on  the 
river. 

It  is  related  of  Rev.  Augustus  Woodbury,  pastor 
of  the  Unitarian  Church  in  Concord  in  the  fifties, 
of  the  last  century,  that  he  went  out  on  a  jam  of 
logs  at  the  Concord  lower  bridge,  presumably  to 
see  the  men  work,  and  accidentally  fell  into  the 
water.  The  current  carried  him  down  stream  for 
a  short  distance  under  the  logs,  when  he  came  up 
to  the  surface  in  a  place  that  happened  to  be  open 
in  the  jam.  As  the  river  men  helped  him  ashore 
one  of  them  was  told  that  he  was  a  Unitarian  min- 
ister. He  replied  that  "if  he  was  a  Unitarian,  the 
parson  was  now  a  good  Baptist. ' ' 

As  before  stated,  the  various  falls  were  the  other 
places  where  a  good  deal  of  hard  work  had  to  be 
done  to  liberate  the  logs  that  had  got  stranded. 
This  was  especially  the  case  at  Amoskeag  Falls. 
One  in  looking  at  these  falls  from  the  vantage  point 
of  the  bridge,  which  nearly  spans  them,  and  noting 
the  boulders,  large  and  small  in  the  channel,  won- 


Wayside   Jottings  159 

ders  how  the  river  men  ever  succeeded  in  getting 
the  logs  down  over  them. 

Amoskeag  Falls  is  easily  the  most  interesting 
natural  curiosity  on  the  line  of  the  Merrimack.  It 
was  a  famous  Indian  resort  for  the  purpose  of  fish- 
ing and  feasting.  Amoskeag  means  "the  fishing 
place."  Here  it  is  said  the  famous  sagamore  of 
the  Penacooks,  Passaconaway,  and  his  son,  Wono- 
lancet,  had  one  of  their  homes.  The  Mohawks 
were  their  deadly  enemies  and,  in  time  of  war 
between  these  hostile  tribes,  the  Penacooks  con- 
cealed their  provisions  in  the  cavities  of  the  rocks 
on  the  large  island  below  the  falls.  They  believed 
that  the  Great  Spirit  had  cut  them  out  for  that 
purpose.  The  water  pours  down  over  the  falls 
today  with  the  same  impetuosity  as  when  Rev. 
James  McGregor,  the  first  white  man,  discovered 
them,  or  when  in  later  years  Gen.  John  Stark 
worked  in  his  sawmill  that  stood  near  them,  and 
where,  it  is  said,  he  received  the  news  of  the  fight 
at  Lexington  and  Concord.  Though  General  Stark 
did  not,  like  some  other  men  of  the  Revolution, 
"leave  the  plowshare  in  the  mould,  or  the  flocks 
and  herds  without  a  fold,"  yet  he  probably  left  a 
log  on  the  sawmill  carriage  in  an  unfinished  state, 
and  mounting  his  horse  started  for  the  scene  of  the 
conflict,  and  rendered  good  service  at  Bunker  Hill, 
as  he  did  later  at  Bennington. 

As  before  stated,  just  when  the  method  of  float- 
ing the  raw  material,  in  the  form  of  pine  or  spruce 
logs,  down  the  Merrimack  ceased,  the  writer  is  not 


160  Wayside   Jottings 

informed ;  probably  somewhere  in  the  sixties.  The 
use  of  the  portable  steam  mill, — that  deadly  foe 
of  the  forests — and  the  extension  of  the  railroad 
into  the  domain  of  the  White  Hills,  changed  the 
way  of  transportation  of  lumber,  so  that  now  the 
sawing  is  done  in  the  forests  and  the  finished 
product,  in  the  shape  of  all  kinds  of  building 
material,  is  shipped  on  the  platform  freight  cars, 
and  this  method  will  probably  be  continued  until 
there  will  be  no  more  lumber  in  the  north  country 
to  ship  to  market. 

A   rhymester   has   forecasted   this  condition   of 
things  in  the  following  lines : 

"Woodman,   spare  that  tree"— 

We  sang  it  long  ago ; 
But  just  the  same  the  woodman  came 

And  laid  the  giants  low. 
We  turned  them  into  tables, 

We  chopped  them  into  pegs, 
And  things  unique  and  styles  antique, 

With  queer,  unsteady  legs. 
***** 

Across  a  sterile  plain 

The  winter  wind  blows  free; 
On  summer  days  the  sun's  hot  rays 

Beat  fierce  as  fierce  can  be. 
Ah,  "Spare  that  tree" — the  echo 

Falls  on  the  desert  air, 
But  such  is  fate,  'tis  all  too  late, 
There  are  no  trees  to  spare. 


The  "  Welwter  Kim  " — Resilience  of  M.  I).  (.'um 


Wayside   Jottings  161 

XXX. 

Wilson  Flagg,  in  his  "  Woods  and  Byways  of 
New  England,"  says:  "To  my  mind  the  elm  is 
intimately  associated  with  the  old  dwelling  houses. 
Not  very  many  of  them  are  still  extant;  but  wher- 
ever we  see  one  it  is  almost  invariably  accompanied 
by  an  elm,  standing  in  the  open  space  that  slopes 
from  the  front  of  the  house." 

The  finest  and  most  symmetrical  elm  that  the 
writer  remembers  of  seeing  is  "standing  in  the 
open  space"  near  the  pleasant  home  of  Milon  D. 
Cummings,  on  the  line  of  Fiske  Street,  at  the  north 
end  of  the  city.  The  house  is  not  an  "old"  one, 
for  it  took  the  place  of  one  of  the  old  bquare 
houses  that  Mr.  Flagg  mentions.  This  elm  was 
called  the  "Webster  Elm,"  or  the  "Coffin  Elm," 
for  it  was  set  out  in  1782  by  the  Coffin  brothers  the 
year  that  Daniel  Webster  was  born.  Daniel  Web- 
ster has  been  dead  nearly  fifty-six  years,  but  this 
elm  to  all  appearances  is  in  its  prime,  though  it  has 
attained  a  good  old  age. 

Not  long  since,  the  writer,  on  going  by  this  place 
in  quest  of  information  in  regard  to  building  opera- 
tions in  Concord  during  the  past  season,  seemed 
to  hear  a  voice  coming  down  from  the  branches  of 
this  elm,  and,  stopping  his  horse,  he  listened. 

"Hello,   there,,  you   man   with   a   white  horse! 
Are  you  the  H.  C.  that  writes  the  'Wayside  Jot- 
tings' for  the  Monitor  f    If  you  are  I  want  to  have 
a  talk  with  you.     I  won't  detain  you  long." 
11 


162  Wayside   Jottings 

H.  C. — "Well,  I  suppose  I  can't  deny  the  soft 
impeachment.  But  are  you  going  to  criticise  or 
commend  the  'Jottings'?  You  know  that  Concord 
has  its  share  of  critics  and  some  hypercritics.  It 
is  a  good  deal  easier  to  criticise  than  it  is  to  com- 
mend." 

Webster  Elm. — "No,  I  do  not  intend  to  criticise, 
for  I  think  the  'Jottings'  are  quite  interesting. 
A  while  ago  I  understand  you  interviewed  the  rock 
maple  and  a  white  ash  out  on  the  line  of  the  Pleas- 
ant Street  boulevard,  near  'Pleasant  View,'  and 
I  wondered  why  you  didn  't  come  up  here  and  inter- 
view me.  I  am  older  than  any  of  those  trees  out 
there,  and  my  memory  goes  back  further.  I  felt 
somewhat  slighted." 

H.  C.— "Well,  I  did  not  intend  to  slight  you, 
but  I  do  not  get  up  to  the  North  End  very  often. 
But,  going  along  the  street  today,  I  could  not 
help  thinking  what  a  splendid  elm  you  have  grown 
to  be,  one  reason  being,  I  suppose,  that  you  have 
had  plenty  of  room  in  which  to  spread  yourself, 
like  a  green  bay  tree,  in  all  directions." 

Webster  Elm. — "Yes,  they  all  say  that  I  am  the 
best-looking  elm  in  town.  I  think  Doctor  Bouton 
had  my  picture  in  his  'History  of  Concord.'  No 
doubt  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  who  was  an 
admirer  of  elms,  would  have  liked  to  have  seen 
me;  perhaps  he  did  when  he  came  to  town  to  lec- 
ture before  the  Penacook  Lyceum,  'way  back  in  the 
fifties  of  the  last  century." 

H.  C. — "You  are  getting  along  in  years,  though 


Wayside   Jottings  163 

you  seem  to  wear  your  age  well.  You  must  have 
an  interesting  history  to  tell  of  your  life  at  the 
North  End,  and  you  must  have  seen  a  good  deal 
from  your  standpoint  on  the  line  of  the  street." 

Webster  Elm. — "Yes,  I  am  along  in  years,  but 
I  do  not  feel  very  old,  but  if  the  age  of  an  elm  is 
usually  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  I  am  about 
that  age>  if  I  have  not  passed  it.  I  was  set  out  in 
the  year  1782  by  Col.  John  Coffin  and  Capt.  Enoch 
Coffin,  brothers.  That  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  years  ago,  and  I  was  a  sturdy  sapling 
when  they  brought  me  from  the  intervale.  I  was 
named  after  Daniel  Webster,  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  born  that  year ;  and,  after  facing  the  storms  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  winters,  I  feel  as 
though  I  could  face  as  many  more." 

H.  C. — "It  was  a  great  honor  to  be  named  after 
Daniel  Webster,  as  he  was  the  greatest  man  that 
New  Hampshire  ever  produced.  I  presume  that 
you  used  to  see  him  ride  by  when  going  to  and 
from  Concord,  when  he  was  a  young  man,  as  well 
as  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  before  the  era 
of  railroads?" 

Webster  Elm. — "Yes,  I  used  to  see  him  pass  by, 
as  well  as  his  brother,  Ezekiel,  both  of  whom  lived 
in  Boscawen  or  Salisbury.  Ezekiel  Webster 
dropped  dead  in  the  old  court  house  while  making 
a  plea,  I  think,  'way  back  in  the  twenties. ' ' 

H.  C. — "You  say  that  you  was  set  out  in  1782. 
That,  I  think,  was  thirty-one  years  after  the  .Old 
North  Church,  that  stood  nearly  opposite,  was  built 


164  Wayside   Jottings 

and  which  went  up  in  flame  and  smoke  on  the  night 
of  November  28,  1870.  You  must  have  witnessed 
a  good  many  interesting  occurrences  in  those 
eighty-eight  years?" 

Webster  Elm. — ' '  Yes,  I  did  witness  a  good  many 
scenes  that  occured  around  the  old  church,  and 
I  ofttimes  wished  that  I  could  have  seen  what 
occurred  on  the  inside.  You  know  that  for  some 
years  it  was  the  only  place  of  worship  in  Concord, 
and  in  later  years  the  principal  place.  A  big  con- 
gregation convened  there  on  Sundays." 

H.  C. — "It  must  have  been  quite  a  sight  to  see 
them  come  in  on  Sundays  from  all  parts  of  the 
town,  as  'going  to  meeting,'  as  they  termed  it, 
was  a  more  universal  custom  than  in  these  later 
days." 

Webster  Elm. — "Yes,  you  should  have  seen  them 
come  in  from  East  and  West  Concord,  the  Long 
Pond  Road  and  from  the  South  End.  They  came 
in  all  kinds  of  conveyances.  Ofttimes  the  hus- 
band and  wife  came  together  on  horseback,  the 
wife  seated  on  a  pillion  behind  him.  They  dis- 
mounted at  the  'horse-block,'  a  flat,  circular  stone 
placed  near  the  church.  It  is  now  over  in  Joseph 
B.  Walker's  door-yard.  Then  came  the  first  'Con- 
cord wagons, '  made  by  Lewis  Downing  at  the  South 
End,  and  the  'One  Hoss  Shay.'  The  boys  and 
girls  who  came  from  the  Long  Pond  district  usually 
walked  in  the  summertime,  carrying  their  shoes 
and  stockings  in  hand  and  putting  them  on  before 
they  came  to  the  church.  Those  were  times  when 


Wayside   Jottings  165 

shoe-leather  was  dear,  money  scarce  and  economy 
was  the  watchword  in  the  home  of  the  farmer. 
It  was  also  quite  a  sight  when  the  services  were 
through  to  see  them  depart  in  all  directions  for 
their  homes,  as  they  were  anxious,  after  listening 
to  two  long  sermons,  to  get  home  to  their  dinners." 

H.  C. — "This  was  on  Sunday.  Do  you  remem- 
ber any  occurrences  that  took  place  on  week  days  ? ' ' 

Webster  Elm. — "Yes,  a  good  many  of  them. 
They  had  a  celebration  every  June,  when  the  great 
and  General  Court  met  here,  called  '  Election  Day. ' 
An  'election  sermon'  was  delivered  by  a  minister 
before  the  governor  and  council  and  the  members 
of  the  Legislature  in  the  Old  North.  A  procession 
was  formed  and  they  came  up  Main  Street  in  great 
style.  The  day  before  this  took  place  they  had 
what  was  termed  a  'nigger  election,'  when  the  col- 
ored brother  was  out  in  full  force.  Then,  away 
back  in  the  forties,  there  was  a  notable  political 
meeting,  when  John  P.  Hale  and  Franklin  Pierce 
had  a  debate  on  the  political  questions  of  the  day. 
There  was  a  large  crowd  in  attendance.  It  was 
a  case  of  'nip  and  tuck'  as  to  the  arguments,  and 
each  side  claimed  the  victory." 

H.  C. — "Of  course  you  remember  the  ministers 
that  preached  in  the  Old  North?" 

Webster  Elm. — "Yes,  I  remember  the  most  of 
them.  Timothy  Walker,  the  first  minister,  died 
the  year  that  I  came  here.  But  I  remember  Israel 
Evans,  Asa  McFarland  and  Nathaniel  Bouton. 
They  were  all  good  men  and  true.  Then  after  the 


166  Wayside   Jottings 

Old  North  ceased  to  be  used  for  worship  and  was 
the  headquarters  of  the  Methodist  Biblical  Insti- 
tute, for  a  number  of  years  there  were  a  lot  of 
young  men  here  who  might  be  called  ministers  in 
embryo.  '  ' 

H.  C.  —  "You  must  have  seen  a  good  many 
funeral  processions  that  have  wended  their  way 
to  the  different  cemeteries  during  these  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  -six  years?" 

Webster  Elm.  —  "I  have  seen  every  procession 
that  has  passed  into  the  Old  North  Cemetery  during 
these  years,  and  also  those  that  have  gone  by  to 
the  Blossom  Hill  and  Calvary  Cemeteries  since 
they  were  consecrated.  Every  day,  almost,  a 
funeral  procession  goes  by.  One  generation  goes 
to  'the  place  appointed  for  all  the  living,'  and 
another  generation  takes  its  place.  As  Thomas 
Gray  says  in  his  immortal  'Elegy': 


'The  boast  of  heraldry,  the  pomp  of 

And  nil  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth  e'er  gave, 
Await  alike  the  inevitable  hour. 

The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave.'  " 

H.  C.  —  "There  is  nothing  in  the  world  truer 
than  those  lines.  But  you  speak  of  the  Old  North 
'going  up  in  flame  and  smoke'  on  the  night  of 
November  28,  1870.  That  must  have  been  a  sad 
sight  to  you  ?  ',' 

Webster  Elm.  —  "It  was  a  sad  sight.  We  had 
been  friends  and  near  neighbors  for  eighty-eight 
years  and  it  was  hard  to  lose  its  company.  But 
it  was  a  splendid  sight.  The  frame  of  the  church 


Wayside   Jottings  167 

was  white  oak,  and  after  the  pine  boarding  had 
burned  off,  the  frame,  from  the  foundation  to 
spire,  stood  out  in  bold  relief  as  any  Fourth  of 
July  fireworks.  The  cockerel  on  the  top  of  the 
spire  loomed  up  grand.  No  doubt  the  fire  was 
set,  as  some  fellows  were  skulking  around  before 
the  fire  broke  out.  Those  were  the  days  of  the 
hand  engines,  and  though  the  firemen  worked  with 
a  will,  they  could  not  save  the  Old  North." 

H.  C. — "I  suppose  you  see  a  good  many  new 
things  and  inventions,  especially  in  the  methods 
of  transportation?" 

"Webster  Elm. — "I  guess  I  have.  I  have  told 
of  the  way  people  came  to  meeting  in  the  old 
times.  But  for  public  travel,  there  was  first  the 
lines  of  Concord  stages  that  passed  over  this  street 
on  their  way  to  and  from  the  north  country.  In 
the  winter  there  was  a  frequent  procession  of  red- 
colored  two-horse  pungs  that  wended  their  way  to 
and  from  the  down  country  market.  Then  way 
back  in  the  forties,  I  first  saw  the  trains  of  cars 
whizzing  along  over  the  intervale.  Then  a  few 
years  ago  came  the  horse  cars  and  later  the  trolley 
car  that  passes  almost  under  my  branches,  every 
fifteen  minutes,  from  early  morn  till  late  at  night. 
And  within  a  few  years  a  new-fangled  vehicle  has 
been  invented,  called  an  automobile.  What  will 
come  next  I  do  not  pretend  to  know.  Probably 
the  balloons  will  be  sailing  through  the  air,  like 
the  ships  at  sea,  and  I  expect  one  may  get  tangled 
up  in  my  branches.  It  is  a  wonderful  age,  and 


168  Wayside   Jottings 

there  is  no  knowing  what  is  a-going  to  happen  in 
the  next  fifty  years. ' ' 

H.  C. — "Yes,  even  the  theology  has  been  changed 
from  what  it  used  to  be  when  the  people  met  in 
the  Old  North  for  worship.  If  the  old  ministers 
who  preached  there  should  revisit  the  glimpses  of 
the  moon,  to  use  a  slang  expression,  they  would 
find  the  stuffing  knocked  out  of  their  theology  and 
the  Protestant  world  is  all  at  sea  as  to  what  to 
believe  and  what  not  to  believe.  Evolution  and 
the  higher  criticism  have  done  the  business  pretty 
effectually. 

"But  I  think  that  I  have  interviewed  you  suf- 
ficiently to-day  and  I  must  be  moving  along. 
Hope  that  you  will  live  to  see  a  thousand  years, 
and  remain  as  handsome  as  you  are  to-day.  So 
Good-bye." 

Webster  Elm. — "Thank  you  for  your  wish  and 
compliment.  'Handsome  is  that  handsome  does, 
you  know.'  So  good  day." 

The  writer  saw  the  Old  North  Church  go  up  in 
flame  and  smoke  on  the  night  of  November  28, 
1870,  and  although  it  was  the  finest  display  in  the 
way  of  fireworks  that  was  ever  seen  in  Concord, 
yet  it  was  also  a  sad  sight  to  the  old  residents,  for 
the  structure  that  was  intimately  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  old  town  in  one  short  hour  vanished 
from  sight.  If  the  hand  of  the  incendiary  had 
let  it  alone,  the  church  might  have  remained  as  the 
most  interesting  historical  structure  in  Concord, 
bearing  the  same  relation  to  this  city  that  the  Old 


Residence  of  Kx-Cov.  Frank  W.   Kollins 


of  Dr.  Cennce  M.  Kinilmll 


Wayside   Jottings 

South  Church  does  to  Boston,  which  has  thus  far 
been  spared  from  fire  and  destruction.  What  an 
appropriate  place  it  would  have  been  to  hold  the 
Old  Home  gatherings,  especially  the  tenth  anni- 
versary of  Old  Home  Week,  which  occurs  next 
summer!  It  stood  within  almost  a  stone's  throw 
of  the  pleasant  home  of  Gov.  Frank  W.  Rollins, 
the  originator  of  Old  Home  Week.  It  would 
be  also  interesting  to  know  how  many  persons  re- 
main in  the  land  of  the  living  who  attended  ser- 
vices in  this  church.  Those  who  are  living  have 
passed  into  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf  of  old  age,  and 
one  of  the  old  square  pews — built  in  that  form 
probably  to  accommodate  the  large  families  of  that 
time — would  contain  all  of  them. 


XXXI. 

It  is  a  pleasant  hour  and  a  half  ride,  in  the  sum- 
mer time,  from  Concord  to  Manchester  on  the  elec- 
trics, and  the  three  miles  of  the  road  that  is  passed 
over  in  going  through  Pembroke  Street  is  not  the 
least  interesting  part  of  the  trip.  In  fact,  there 
is  no  other  section  on  the  line  of  this  road  that 
exceeds  it  in  interest.  This  street  has  always 
seemed  to  the  writer  as  an  ideal  place  for  a  farmer 
to  live;  we  should  judge  that  farmers  mainly  in- 
habit it.  The  homes  that  line  both  sides  of  the 
street  indicate  that  those  who  occupy  them  are 
well-to-do  in  life ;  the  soil  of  the  farms  is  generally 
of  a  good  quality,  and  for  more  than  a  century  and 


170  Wayside   Jottings 

a  half  it  has  rewarded  the  labor  of  the  husband- 
man. Although  Pembroke  is  bounded  on  three  of 
its  sides  by  the  Soucook,  Merrimack  and  Suncook 
Rivers,  respectively,  on  the  north,  west  and  south, 
it  has  no  pond  within  its  borders.  In  this  re- 
spect it  is  somewhat  unique.  How  many  towns 
are  there  in  the  state  that  can  not  number  one  or 
more  ponds  within  its  limits!  One  is  incb'ned  to 
wonder  what  the  successive  generations  of  small 
boys  have  done  for  places  where  they  could  fish 
and  skate.  Of  course  they  could  bathe  in  these 
rivers. 

While  there  are  probably  a  hundred  houses  be- 
sides out-buildings  on  the  line  of  Pembroke  Street, 
they  do  not  make  so  great  a  showing  as  though 
they  were  arranged  in  the  more  compact  form  of  a 
village.  The  building  of  the  electric  road  has 
changed  somewhat  the  future  of  the  town,  and 
made  it  in  one  sense  a  suburb  of  Concord.  At 
present,  perhaps,  this  is  more  especially  the  case 
in  the  summer  season,  though  as  the  old  residents 
pass  away  and  the  farms  go  into  other  hands,  they 
will  possibly  be  divided  up  and  thus  furnish  de- 
sirable homes,  not  only  for  summer  residents,  but 
for  those  to  dwell  here  the  year  round. 

Pembroke  was  incorporated  by  the  authorities  of 
the  province  of  New  Hampshire.  November  1,  1759. 
Its  name  took  the  place  of  what  was  known  as 
Suncook,  or  the  Lovewell  township,  it  being  a 
section  of  the  Merrimack  valley  that  was  granted 
to  the  survivors,  heirs  and  descendants  of  Capt. 


Wayside   Jottings  171 

John  Lovewell  and  his  company  of  brave  men  who 
went  from  Dunstable — now  Nashua — into  the  Pig- 
wacket  Country  to  clean  out  the  Indians,  who  were 
making  themselves  a  nuisance  to  the  early  settlers. 

What  time  the  noble  Lovewell  came 

With  forty  men  from  Dunstable 
The  cruel  Pequot  tribes  to  tame, 

With  arms  and  bloodshed  terrible. 

But  instead  of  taming  the  Pequots,  they  came 
pretty  near  being  tamed  themselves,  Captain  Love- 
well  and  fourteen  of  his  men  being  killed  in  their 
encounter  with  the  redskins  near  the  shore  of  the 
pond  at  Pigwacket.  In  spite,  however,  of  this  dis- 
aster, the  Indians,  who  suffered  severely  in  this 
fight,  were  checked  in  their  course  of  pillage  and 
murder  in  the  province;  no  more  serious  trouble 
was  experienced  at  their  hands,  and  it  was  alto- 
gether fitting  that  the  survivors  and  the  heirs  and 
descendants  should  receive  a  testimonial,  and  Pem- 
broke is  a  fitting  monument  of  it. 

We  have  been  hearing  a  good  deal  in  recent' 
years  about  "deserted  farms"  in  our  state,  and  a 
good  many  of  them  deserved  to  be  deserted,  and 
more  ought  to  follow  suit  and  let  the  forest  growth 
take  possession.  But  before  we  pass  over  the  Sou- 
cook  into  Pembroke  we  go  through  a  section  of 
Concord  that  was  once  quite  a  farming  section. 
The  farms  were  situated  mainly,  as  we  understand, 
near  the  Soucook  River,  which  here  beats  the 
ivierrimack  on  the  score  of  crookedness.  Accord- 
ing to  Giles  Wheeler,  in  former  days,  there  were 


172  Wayside   Jottings 

quite  a  number  of  farm  houses,  some  fifteen,  in 
this  section  of  Concord,  but  now  they  have  all  dis- 
appeared. This  change,  asjve  understand  it,  is 
not  due  to  any  exhaustion  of  the  soil,  but  mainly 
to  the  fact  that  the  Amoskeag  Manuf acturing  Com- 
pany having  gotten  possession  of  the  water  power 
at  Garvin's  Falls,  bought  up  the  land  adjacent  to 
these  falls.  These  farmers  disposed  of  their  real 
estate  and  left  for  other  localities. 

We  see  in  the  history  of  Garvin's  Falls  an  illus- 
tration of  the  old  adage  that  "there  is  many  a 
slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip."  As  the  writer 
understands  it,  this  section  of  Concord  came  pretty 
near  being  the  site  of  the  city  which  was  finally 
located  at  Lawrence — as  only  one  vote  decided,  as 
we  are  told,  the  matter  of  location.  We  can  see 
in  imagination  what  a  thriving  manufacturing  city 
Concord  would  have  been,  and  a  rival  to  Man- 
chester. As  there  is  nothing  in  the  new  "History 
of  Concord"  bearing  on  this  particular,  that  the 
writer  can  discover,  we  have  relied  on  the  memory 
of  others  as  to  the  accuracy  of  this  statement.  As 
it  was  the  turning  point  in  Concord's  history  as 
to  whether  it  should  remain  a  rural  city,  or 
blossom  out  into  a  manufacturing  center,  perhaps 
it  was  thought  the  less  said  about  it  the  better. 

The  only  buildings  of  a  public  character  on  the 
line  of  Pembroke  Street  are  the  Congregational 
Church,  the  Pembroke  Academy,  the  town  house 
and  "the  little  red  school  house,"  though  perhaps 
it  has  a  more  modern  color,  being  of  brick.  While 


Wayside   Jottings  173 

three  of  these  structures  might  be  called  old,  the 
academy  building  is  new,  having  been  built  but  a 
few  years  ago,  and  replacing  the  old  academy  that 
was  burned.  Away  back  in  the  forties,  Pembroke 
enjoyed  the  privilege  and  perhaps  the  notoriety 
of  having  two  rival  schools  on  its  street,  the  old 
school,  or  what  was  sometimes  known  as  the 
Blanchard  Academy,  built  in  1829,  and  what  was 
known  as  the  "Gymnasium."  This  latter  school 
occupied  a  building  that  was  erected  for  its  par- 
ticular use,  but  which  is  now  known  as  the  town 
hall.  It  is  said  the  town  in  those  years  was  rent 
into  factions  over  these  schools,  one  faction  being 
partisans  of  the  academy,  and  the  other  faction 
being  champions  of  the  gymnasium.  This  ruction, 
as  we  understand  it,  was  over  a  principal  of  the 
academy  whom  the  trustees  had  either  fired  or 
given  opportunity  to  resign.  For  a  few  years  the 
school  had  a  large  attendance,  and  we  should  judge 
from  the  statement  of  a  Concord  boy  who  attended 
the  academy  in  those  years  that  this  partisan  spirit 
was  more  or  less  manifested  in  the  conduct  of  the 
scholars  of  these  rival  schools  toward  each  other. 
"On  the  way  to  and  from  the  academy,"  he  says, 
"from  my  boarding  place,  I  was  often  the  target 
for  the  gibes,  and  sometimes  for  the  missiles,  of 
the  students,  or  the  enterprising  friends  of  the 
younger  seminary.  I  could  then  throw  a  stone 
with  some  force  and  accuracy  on  suitable  occasions, 
and  those  of  us  who  lived  north  of  the  gymnasium, 


174  Wayside   Jottings 

and  had  to  pass  it  four  times  a  day,  finally  obtained 
peace  by  being  always  ready  to  fight  for  it." 

At  one  time  considerable  attention  was  paid  to 
military  tactics,  introduced  by  Captain  Partridge, 
well  known  from  his  connection  with  the  military 
school  at  Norwich,  Vt,  and  of  which  this  school 
was  made  a  branch.  After  continuing  about  seven- 
teen years,  mainly  on  account  of  having  no  perma- 
nent fund,  it  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  its  interests 
were  united  with  those  of  Pembroke  Academy. 

XXXII. 

One  of  the  old-time  ministers  of  Pembroke  was 
Rev.  Dr.  Abraham  Burnham,  who  for  forty-three 
years  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in 
that  town.  He  was  born  in  Dunbarton,  March  8, 
1775,  and  died  September  21,  1852.  He  was  the 
contemporary  of  other  old-time  ministers  who  lived 
in  the  Merrimack  valley,  notably  the  Rev.  Dr.  Asa 
McFarland,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  and 
the  Rev.  Asa  P.  Tenney,  who  served  the  churches 
over  which  they  were  pastors  respectively  twenty- 
seven,  forty-two,  and  thirty-four  years.  He  was 
ordained  as  pastor  March  2,  1807,  and  dismissed 
November  20,  1850.  In  the  earlier  years  of  his 
ministry  he  officiated  in  two  meeting  houses  in 
town, — one  known  as  the  "North  Meeting  House," 
situated  at  the  upper  end  of  Pembroke  Street,  and 
at  the  "South  Meeting  House,"  the  present  church, 
— one-half  of  the  time  in  one  and  one-half  of  the 


Wayside   Jottings  175 

time  in  the  other.  Afterwards  these  churches 
united  their  forces,  and  during  the  remainder  of 
his  pastorate  he  officiated  in  the  church  which  is 
still  standing.  It  was  the  custom  in  his  days  to 
have  long  pastorates,  instead  of  a  minister  having 
to  pull  up  stakes  every  few  years  and  seek  pastures 
new;  and  it  seems  as  though  it  would  have  been 
just  as  well  if  this  custom  had  been  continued. 
During  Doctor  Burnham's  pastorate  of  forty-three 
years  there  was  considerable  marrying  and  giving 
in  marriage,  for  in  the  "History  of  Pembroke" 
there  is  a  record  of  three  hundred  and  eleven  mar- 
riages performed  by  him  from  1807  to  1851.  As 
Senator  Henry  E.  Burnham  was  born  in  Dunbar- 
ton,  it  is  probable  that  he  is  a  relative  of  this  divine. 
We  believe  Mrs.  Joseph  B.  Walker  of  this  city  is  a 
granddaughter.  And  among  the  last  of  the  mar- 
riages at  which  he  officiated  there  is  this  record: 
"1850,  May  1,  Joseph  B.  Walker  to  Elizabeth  L. 
Upham,  both  of  Concord." 

In  the  last  number  of  the  Jottings  reference 
was  made  to  a  Concord  boy  that  attended  school 
at  Pembroke  Academy  way  back  in  the  forties. 
He  boarded  in  Doctor  Burnham's  family  and  in  a 
volume  of  ' '  Recollections ' '  he  describes  some  of  the 
traits  of  this  clergyman.  He  says :  ' '  Doctor  Burn- 
ham  had  a  serious  face,  thoughtful  expression,  and 
was  rather  abrupt  in  manner,  so  that  his  real  char- 
acter did  not  manifest  itself  to  everybody.  He 
kept  a  good  horse,  and  was  fond  of  having  us  drive 
with  him  to  'Buck  Street,'  or  North  Pembroke. 


176  Wayside   Jottings 

There  was  an  abundance  of  wholesome  food  on  his 
table,  at  which  we  were  never  seated  until,  all 
assembled  and  standing,  the  divine  blessing  had 
been  solicited.  He  liked  cheerful  conversation, 
and  a  lively  joke.  I  remember  an  occasion  at 
family  prayers  when  he  read  a  chapter  in  the  Old 
Testament,  in  which  mention  is  made  of  the  Heb- 
ronites.  Closing  the  Bible  with  a  smart  bang,  he 
remarked:  'We  have  some  Hebronites  in  New 
Hampshire.'  'Why,  where?'  said  Mrs.  Burnham, 
with  some  surprise.  'Up  in  Hebron,'  he  replied, 
gaily,  and  then  arose  and  began  a  fervent  prayer. 
To  those  who  deemed  him  a  severe  man  this  would 
have  seemed  a  queer  thing  to  do;  but,  in  truth, 
he  was  not  a  severe  man.  He  was  a  brisk,  hearty, 
New  England  clergyman,  sound  and  mellow,  not 
too  theological  to  be  human."  The  good  doctor 
might  have  also  remarked  that  we  have  some 
Canaanites  up  in  Canaan,  and  some  Goshenites  up 
in  Goshen. 

The  writer  does  not  know  of  a  more  beautiful 
view  along  the  Merrimack  valley  than  is  seen  from 
the  car  window  as  we  descend  from  the  heights  of 
Allenstown,  near  the  home  of  the  late  Gen.  Natt 
Head,  and  coast  down  the  hill  in  the  direction  of 
Hooksett.  It  would  make  a  splendid  scene  for  an 
artist  to  transfer  to  his  canvas,  or  for  a  poet  to 
transmute  into  verse.  Among  the  most  prominent 
elevations  seen  in  the  background  are  Wood  Hill, 
west,  across  the  Merrimack  in  the  town  of  Bow, 
and  old  Kearsarge,  further  in  the  distance  to  the 


Wayside   Jottings  177 

northward,  where  for  ages  he  has  seemed  to  be 
looking  in  the  direction  of  his  brothers  in  the 
White  Hills.  It  is  the  grandest  mountain  in 
central  New  Hampshire,  and  is  not  half  appreci- 
ated. The  writer  never  catches  a  view  of  it  but 
what  he  thinks  of  the  time,  way  back  in  the  fifties,- 
when  in  company  with  a  party  of  Colby  Academy 
students  he  made  the  ascent  up  its  rock-ribbed 
side  on  the  evening  of  a  Fourth  of  July.  There 
was  some  risk  in  performing  this  feat,  in  the  night 
time,  but  the  glorious  sunrise  the  next  morning 
amply  repaid  for  all  the  toil  and  danger  of  the 
ascent. 

Probably  it  will  never  be  known  just  what  the 
name  of  Hooksett  means.  It  dates  back  to  an 
early  period  in  the  history  of  our  country.  I.  W. 
Hammond,  in  his  compilation  of  state  papers,  says : 
The  name  Isle  au  Hooksett  and  Isle  au  Hook- 
sett  Falls  was  given  to  this  locality  many  years 
before  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  ascertain  its  derivation."  We  will, 
however,  give  a  guess,  that  the  name  probably  has 
reference  to  the  fishing  customs  of  the  Indians, 
and  to  whom  it  must  have  been  one  of  their  favor- 
ite resorts  in  the  fishing  season.  No  doubt  the 
salmon,  in  the  olden  days,  had  the  time  of  their 
lives  in  getting  up  over  the  falls,  when  there  was 
no  dam  to  obstruct  their  course. 

Hooksett  village  is  an  odd  looking  place  and 
comports  well  with  its  name.  In  his  lifetime,  Bon- 
ney's  Tavern,  kept  by  Horace  Bonney,  was  a 
12 


178  Wayside   Jottings 

famous  hostelry  and  a  favorite  resort  of  travelers 
and  parties.  We  well  remember,  some  years  ago, 
of  going  to  this  tavern  with  a  sleighing  party  from 
Concord  and  of  the  good  cheer  that  Mr.  Bonney 
gave  his  guests.  The  supper  table  almost  groaned 
with  its  burden  of  good  things  to  eat.  Here  Presi- 
dent Andrew  Jackson  tarried  for  a  few  hours, 
with  other  distinguished  men,  in  June,  1833,  when 
he  passed  through  the  village  on  his  way  to  Con- 
cord. The  reception  that  he  got,  it  is  said,  was 
entirely  unconventional.  He  slipped  into  the 
kitchen  of  the  tavern,  where  the  cook  was  frying 
doughnuts,  and  asked  the  privilege  of  sampling 
them.  The  cook  also  offered  him  some  cheese  to 
go  with  the  doughnuts,  and  then  "Old  Hickory" 
stepped  outside  the  house  to  take  a  view  of  Hook- 
sett  Falls. 

There  is  nothing  very  attractive  in  the  view 
from  the  car  window  as  we  speed  along  the  route 
between  Hooksett  and  Manchester.  We  strike  the 
Londonderry  turnpike,  on  which,  years  ago,  the 
lines  of  stages  passed  along  on  their  trips  between 
Concord  and  Boston.  One  going  in  comfort,  and 
at  fairly  good  speed  on  the  electrics,  alongside  of 
this  highway,  cannot  help  contrasting  the  new 
with  the  old — the  trolley  ear  with  the  stage  coach. 
In  the  summer  time,  one  would  fare  fairly  well 
riding  by  stage,  though  it  was  a  tedious  way  of 
traveling.  But  in  the  winter  time,  in  zero  weather, 
it  must  have  been  not  only  tedious,  but  rough. 
Journeying  in  this  way,  however,  was  only  in 


Wayside  Jottings  179 

keeping  with  the  manner  of  life  in  those  days.  It 
is  doubtful  if  any  of  the  later  generation  of  boys 
and  girls  ever  rode  inside  or  outside  of  a  stage 
coach.  An  auto  is  none  too  good  for  their  blood, 
and  a  balloon  will  probably  come  next. 

The  first  street  that  we  cross  when  we  near  the 
Queen  City  is  Webster  Street,  named,  of  course, 
for  the  great  Daniel,  New  Hampshire's  greatest 
son.  If  we  take  this  street  west  to  Elm  Street,  it 
leads  us  through  a  section  of  the  city  that  might 
be  called  the  new  Manchester.  It  is  the  finest 
residential  part  of  the  town  and  is  in  marked  con- 
trast with  some  of  the  older  sections,  especially  the 
"Barbary  Coast."  Here  we  have  a  chance  to  ob- 
serve the  various  styles  of  modern  house  architec- 
ture in  the  dwellings  that  the  business  and  pro- 
fessional men  of  Manchester  have  reared  for  them- 
selves. They  are  beautiful  homes,  and  with  ample 
grounds  around  them.  A  few  years  ago  this  whole 
section  of  the  city  was  a  pasture,  or  waste  land,  on 
which  mainly  grew  pitch  pine  and  the  scrub  oak. 
For  a  few  years  the  old  New  Hampshire  State  Fair 
held  its  exhibitions  here,  as  some  of  the  older 
readers  of  the  "Jottings"  will  remember. 

XXXIII. 

A  while  ago  a  life-long  resident  of  Concord  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  to  the  writer  that  "The  Old 
North  End"  would  be  an  interesting  subject  to 
write  up  for  one  chapter  of  these  Jottings.  The 


180  Wayside   Jottings 

writer  agreed  with  that  opinion,  and  remembering 
that  Gov.  Frank  W.  Rollins  had  contributed  to  the 
Granite  Monthly,  a  few  years  since,  an  interesting 
article  on  the  same  subject,  the  writer  obtained 
Governor  Rollins'  permission  to  use  in  one  or  more 
issues  of  the  Monitor  what  he  had  written  on  this 
subject.  It  was  written  in  Governor  Rollins'  best 
vein,  and  matches  well  with  Henry  McFarland's 
"Recollections."  They  were  both  "North-End- 
ers,"  were  both  good  wielders  of  the  pen,  and  the 
results  of  their  efforts  were  interesting  to  peruse. 
On  account  of  the  length  of  the  article  the  writer 
is  forced  to  abridge  it  somewhat. 

"  'The  Old  North  End!'  There  is  music  in  its 
very  name,  a  conservatism,  a  sound  of  strength,  a 
restfulness,  a  peacefulness,  at  least,  to  me.  Is  it 
my  imagination  ? 

"There  it  is  unchanged,  and  yet  so  changed.  The 
same  broad  streets,  the  same  old  trees  (a  few  miss- 
ing), the  same  old  houses.  Other  parts  of  the  city 
have  grown,  have  expanded ;  new  streets  have  shot 
out,  like  young  twigs  on  a  hardy  willow;  ornate 
modern  houses,  with  towers,  cupolas,  fancy  piazzas, 
and  all  that  the  latter-day  architect  can  devise  to 
hide  the  lines  of  grace  and  beauty,  have  sprung 
up;  brick  blocks  line  the  business  streets;  public 
buildings  both  costly  and  architecturally  good, 
adorn  the  central  portion  of  the  town ;  but  the  old 
North  End  goes  peacefully  on,  undisturbed  by  the 
march  of  time,  and  regardless  of  the  pushings  and 
elbowings  of  the  ambitious  present. 


Wayside   Jottings  181 

' '  I  wish  to  speak  of  the  North  End  as  I  remember 
it  when  a  boy — not  so  very  long  ago,  yet  a  quarter 
of  a  century  is  quite  a  period, — and  while  few 
changes  have  taken  place  in  its  outward  appear- 
ance, in  its  personnel,  how  changed ! 

' '  At  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  the  arch  of  great 
elms  extended  south  as  far  as  Chapel  Street,  and 
there  was  a  row  of  magnificent  trees  on  the  east 
even  as  far  south  as  Pitman  Street.  In  front  of 
the  old  Morrill  house,  now  gone,  a  row  of  Lom- 
bardy  poplars  stood,  like  a  file  of  prim  and  erect 
sentinels,  against  the  sky.  No  one  knows  exactly 
the  reason  of  the  death  of  all  the  trees  on  this  side 
of  the  street,  but  they  went  one  by  one,  and  people 
generally  laid  the  blame  at  the  door  of  the  gas 
company. 

"  'The  Old  North  End'  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  Fort  Eddy,  on  the  north  by  Horse  Shoe  Pond, 
and  on  the  west  by  a  range  of  wooded  hills — all 
points  of  interest  to  me  as  a  boy.  A  large  part  of 
my  childhood  was  spent  in  and  on  (more  in  than 
on)  the  waters  of  Horse  Shoe  Pond.  I  always  kept 
a  boat  or  canoe  at  what  was  called  the  'swimming 
hole,'  at  the  lower  end  near  the  ice  house,  and 
early  morning  usually  found  me  cruising  after 
pond  lilies,  or  wading  for  cat-o '-nine-tails  among 
the  intricate  passages  which  intersected  the  north- 
ern end  of  the  pond.  On  a  bit  of  firm  ground  in 
the  midst  of  this  waste  of  water  and  bushes  we 
had  a  wigwam,  fully  equipped  with  all  the  imple- 
ments of  wild  life  and  the  chase.  Those  were 


182  Wayside   Jottings 

halcyon  days!  One  of  the  favorite  amusements 
was  to  take  a  flat-bottomed  boat  and  turn  it  upside 
down,  then  raise  it  and  drop  it  gently  and  evenly 
on  the  water  so  as  to  retain  the  air  under  it,  when  it 
would  float  upon  its  edges,  leaving  a  large  space 
full  of  air  underneath.  Then  we  would  dive  and 
come  up  under  the  boat,  push  it  all  about  the  pond, 
in  a  manner  most  mysterious  to  those  not  in  the 
secret.  The  great  test  of  swimming  ability  was  to 
swim  up  to  a  point  opposite  Fosterville  and  back. 
I  remember  John  B.  Abbott  was  the  champion  in 
my  time. 

"I  don't  know  whether  'Fort  Eddy'  is  the  mine 
of  delight  to  the  boys  of  today  that  it  was  to  us, 
but  certainly  some  of  the  happiest  of  my  boyhood 
days  were  passed  there.  To  begin  with,  we  looked 
upon  it  with  awe,  as  there  was  a  tradition  among 
us  that  it  had  been  the  scene  of  a  great  Indian 
battle,  between  the  Penacooks  and  Mohawks,  and 
we  thought  we  discovered  the  partly-effaced  lines 
of  earth  works  and  were  always  digging  in  hopes 
of  finding  relics  of  the  battle.  Every  peculiarly 
shaped  stone  we  came  across  was  a  battle-axe  head, 
an  arrow-head,  or  something  of  the  kind.  Then, 
too,  the  peculiar  shape  of  the  peninsula  rendered 
it  particularly  well  fitted  for  defence,  and  it  was 
the  scene  of  many  a  pitched  battle  between  'our 
crowd'  and  'the  others.'  There  was  good  fish- 
ing in  'the  Eddy,'  and  occasionally  game  along 
the  river,  and  it  was  remote  enough  from  the  city 


Wayside   Jottings  183 

so  that  we  were  not  disturbed,  no  matter  what 
we  did." 

XXXIV. 

This  number  of  the  Jottings  is  made  up  mainly 
of  Governor  Rollins'  reminiscences  of  those  who 
resided  in  the  "Old  North  End"  when  he  was  a 
boy.  As  nearly  twelve  years  have  passed  away 
since  these  reminiscences  were  written,  many  of 
the  old  residents  herein  named  have  deceased,  and 
he  could  well  declare  that  "while  a  few  changes 
have  taken  place  in  the  outward  appearance  of  this 
section  of  the  city,  in  its  personnel  how  changed ! ' ' 
It  is  the  saddest  thing  in  human  experience  that 
when  one  is  pleasantly  situated  in  life,  and  can 
say  with  one  of  old  that ' '  our  lines  are  cast  in  pleas- 
ant places ;  yea  we  have  a  goodly  heritage ' ' ;  when 
his  time  comes  he  has  to  submit  to  the  inevitable 
and  ' '  depart  for  that  bourne  whence  no  traveler  re- 
turns." It  is  an  illustration  of  the  irony  of  fate 
that  is  world-wide. 

' '  Let  us  begin  at  the  north  end  of  Main  Street, ' ' 
says  Governor  Rollins,  "and  note  some  of  the 
changes.  Hon.  Joseph  B.  Walker  looks  much  as 
he  did,  except  that  time  has  added  a  little  more 
silver  to  his  hair,  but  he  is  the  same  unobtrusive, 
courteous  gentleman  as  of  yore,  and  his  ancestral 
home  and  the  noble  elms  around  it  still  stand,  a 
landmark  in  Concord.  My  mother  used  to  tell  me 
she  remembered  when  there  was  a  flight  of  steps 


184  Wayside   Jottings 

leading  up  to  a  row  of  seats  in  one  of  the  great 
elms  in  front  of  the  house. 

"Col.  Enoch  Gerrish,  whose  house  was  always 
open  to  me  as  a  boy  and  whose  bluff  kindness  was 
appreciated,  remains  [since  deceased] ,  though  seen 
about  the  city  perhaps  less  than  years  ago.  He  has 
spent  much  of  his  time  of  late  in  travel,  and  talks 
very  interestingly  about  the  countries  he  has 
visited. 

"Mr.  Francis  A.  Fiske  passed  away  some  years 
since,  a  man  whose  kindly  smile  and  loving  neigh- 
borliness  endeared  him  to  all  the  community.  His 
son,  Mr.  William  P.  Fiske,  retains  the  old  home 
and  his  father's  sterling  traits  of  character.  The 
old  F.  A.  Fiske  store,  one  of  the  few  reminders  of 
the  days  when  the  North  End  was  the  business 
part  of  Concord,  still  stands,  though  the  business 
has  passed  into  other  hands. 

"I  can  just  remember  the  old  Kimball  house, 
which  is  now  replaced  by  the  substantial  and  per- 
fectly appointed  home  of  Mr.  Samuel  S.  Kimball 
[since  deceased],  a  man  with  whom  modesty  is  a 
mania,  and  whose  kindly  and  good  deeds  were 
always  done  with  diligent  secrecy.  Dr.  G.  M. 
Kimball  now  resides  in  the  paternal  home. 

"Who  cannot  remember  Col.  John  H.  George? 
I  can  see  him  now,  hurrying  down  the  street  with 
quick,  short  steps,  always  ready  with  a  hearty 
handshake  and  some  quip  or  story;  warm-hearted, 
quick  to  anger  and  as  ready  to  forgive  and  forget, 
large  of  frame,  large  of  heart,  his  home  was  always 


Wayside   Jottings  185 

open  and  his  hospitality  boundless.  His  son  and 
daughter  keep  up  the  traditions  of  the  family,  and 
I  believe  their  front  door  is  never  locked,  at  least 
I  never  knew  any  one  to  ring  the  bell. 

"Mrs.  Robert  E.  Pecker  lived  in  the  house  now 
occupied  by  Dr.  W.  G.  Carter  [since  deceased], 
and  many  a  good  dinner  have  I  eaten  at  her  hos- 
pitable board.  She  passed  away  some  years  since, 
respected  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her.  This 
house  was  built  in  1791  by  Philip  Carrigan,  and  on 
account  of  its  size  and  expense  was  called  '  Carri- 
gan's  Folly.'  It  was  a  garrison  house,  where  sol- 
diers were  quartered  in  the  War  of  1812. 

"Dr.  F.  D.  Ayer  has  endeared  himself  to  all  our 
people  during  his  long  and  faithful  ministry.  He 
is  now  frequently  seen  upon  his  bicycle — this  was 
in  1897.  Shades  of  Nathaniel  Bouton:  What 
would  the  people  of  the  old  North  End  have  said 
fifty  years  ago  to  have  seen  one  of  their  pastors 
astride  a  wheel?  But  times  have  changed.  (And 
Governor  Rollins  might  have  also  said  are  still 
changing,  for  the  auto  has  displaced  the  bicycle.) 

' '  '  Honest  John  Abbott '  was  tenderly  laid  to  rest 
several  years  ago.  Never  was  there  a  more  hon- 
orable, a  more  kindly  man.  His  heart  was  as  large 
and  tender  as  his  frame  was  massive  and  towering. 
A  devoted  husband  and  father.  I  remember  him 
with  especially  tender  feelings,  for  I  spent  so  many 
happy  hours  at  his  home  and  knew  him  intimately. 

"Judge  Asa  Fowler  has  gone  to  his  reward  and 
his  family  are  no  longer  numbered  among  the  resi- 


186  Wayside   Jottings 

dents  of  Concord.  They,  however,  have  not  for- 
gotten the  place  of  their  nativity  and  have  made 
the  distinguished  name  of  their  father  familiar  to 
the  younger  generations  by  the  'Fowler  Memorial 
Library. ' 

"Dr.  Ezra  Carter;  does  not  that  name  call  up 
memories  to  all  North  End  people?  I  can  see  his 
smiling,  benignant  face  now,  entering  the  sick 
room  and  bringing  cheer,  hope,  relief,  by  his  very 
presence.  He  was  the  most  perfect  representative 
of  the  old  family  physician — the  gentleman  of  the 
old  school — I  have  ever  known.  None  knew  him 
but  to  love  him,  and  whose  death  would  have  been 
an  irreparable  loss  if  his  noble  traits  of  character 
had  not  been  transmitted  to  his  son,  Dr.  W.  G. 
Carter  [since  deceased]  whom  I  venture  to  state 
never  had  an  enemy  in  his  life. 

"Hon.  Asa  McFarland  was  then  a  prominent 
figure  on  our  streets,  but  he  has  passed  away  full 
of  years  and  leaving  behind  him  a  blessed  memory 
of  good  deeds  and  an  open  record  of  a  well-spent 
life. 

"Maj.  Henry  McFarland,  who  for  many  years 
lived  juet  south  of  the  Rollins  place,  has  come  back 
to  us  after  a  long  absence,  and  no  man  could  be 
more  welcome.  He  is  the  best  type  of  a  good 
citizen. 

"The  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton's  name  will  always 
be  a  prominent  one  in  the  history  of  Concord,  not 
only  for  his  long  ministry  of  forty  years,  but  be- 
cause of  his  love  for  and  association  with  the 


Wayside   Jottings  187 

records  of  the  city.  His  clear-cut  features,  his 
erect  figure,  stand  out  before  me  as  a  silhouette 
upon  the  background  of  the  past. 

"Bishop  Niles  had  just  arrived  among  us,  and 
while  we  knew  him  by  reputation,  he  did  not  then 
occupy  that  large  and  prominent  place  in  our  affec- 
tions and  respect  that  he  now  holds.  I  doubt  if 
New  Hampshire  ever  had  a  man  within  her  borders 
of  broader  learning,  of  greater  grasp  of  facts  and 
with  nobler  ideals  and  aspirations. 

"Dr.  G.  P.  Conn  is  still  in  active  practice  among 
us,  in  the  prime  of  life,  a  man  of  broad  experience, 
inexhaustible  good  humor  and  widely  known. 

"Evil-doers  no  longer  have  to  face  Judge  Dana, 
but  his  name  has  been  prominently  connected  with 
our  police  court  ever  since  I  can  remember,  and 
I  am  happy  to  say  he  seems  well  and  active  yet. 

"Oliver  Pillsbury  was  deeply  regretted  when  he 
was  taken  away.  A  man  of  ripe  judgment,  honor- 
able, honored,  tried  and  true. 

"Who  did  not  love  Maj.  A.  B.  Thompson?  A 
tried  soldier,  a  true  Christian  gentleman,  an  up- 
right citizen.  In  him  'the  Old  North  End'  lost 
one  of  its  beacon  lights. 

"Hon.  E.  H.  Rollins  died  in  1889,  and  I  think  I 
may  justly  say  that  his  life  was  not  without  its 
uses.  He  served  his  state  and  his  constituents 
faithfully,  and  was  always  true  to  himself  and  his 
friends.  Part  of  the  family  still  live  in  Concord, 
but  the  old  West  house  becoming  too  old  for  a 
habitation,  has  been  torn  down." 


188  Wayside   Jottings 

XXXV. 

Concord  has  been  rather  unfortunate  in  the  loss 
of  church  edifices  by  fire.  Six  of  them  have  been 
consumed  within  the  last  sixty  years,  and  the 
writer  saw  five  of  them  burn,  viz.,  the  first  Unita- 
rian, November  2,  1854;  South  Church,  summer  of 
1859 ;  Old  North,  November  28,  1870 ;  New  North, 
June  29,  1873;  New  Unitarian,  April  25,  1888. 
The  West  Church  was  burned  September  4,  1869. 

Governor  Rollins,  in  his  "Old  North  End" 
sketch,  gives  a  graphic  account  of  the  destruction 
of  the  second  North  Church  edifice.  It  is  a  fine 
pen  picture  of  the  event  and  is  true  to  life,  as  the 
writer,  who  saw  it  burn,  can  readily  attest.  To 
our  finite  vision  it  seems,  at  first  thought,  that  a 
church  edifice,  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Al- 
mighty God,  ought  to  have  a  special  protection 
from  flood  and  flame — in  fact,  ought  to  be  as  im- 
mune as  were  the  three  ancient  worthies  who  were 
cast  into  Nebuchadnezzar's  fiery  furnace.  But, 
under  the  universal  law,  the  fire  fiend  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons  or  property  and  gets  in  his 
destructive  work,  and  always  will. 

"The  burning  of  the  North  Church,*'  he  says, 
"was  a  personal  loss  to  me;  I  loved  the  old  build- 
ing, with  its  high  tower,  its  long  box-pews  and  tall 
pulpit.  It  had  ample  grounds  and  a  high  iron 
fence  around  it,  and  not  the  least  loss  by  the  fire 
was  the  row  of  beautiful  maples  which  encircled 
it.  Many  of  my  ancestors  were  Congregationalists 


The  Old  North  Church 
First  Frame  Meeting  House 


Wayside   Jottings  189 

and  attended  this  church,  and  I  always  felt  as 
much  at  home  in  it  as  in  my  own. 

"In  this  great  conflagration  the  massive  timbers 
of  the  spire  resisted  till  the  last.  The  covering,  or 
boarding,  was  all  burned  off,  leaving  the  timbers 
with  the  great  bell  hanging  between,  which  had 
rung  so  many  times  on  Sabbath  mornings  to  call  its 
people  to  devotion,  which  had  tolled  for  so  many  of 
the  departed,  which  had  awakened  me  so  many 
times  with  its  wild  clamor  of  alarm,  and  which  I 
had,  surreptitiously,  helped  so  many  times  peal  out 
its  glad  welcome  to  the  morn  on  May  day  and  on 
Fourth  of  July. 

"The  bell  went  first,  and  many  a  man  felt  sad 
as  it  crashed  into  the  fiery  furnace  below,  there  to 
be  turned  into  the  molten  mass  from  which  it  was 
cast.  The  spire  did  not  long  survive.  For  min- 
utes we  watched  it  sway  and  totter,  while  the 
flames  and  sparks  poured  up  its  sides  and  into  the 
blackness  of  the  heavens  above  in  one  great,  riotous, 
jubilant  roar.  You  could  almost  hear  the  fire 
fiends  laugh  with  delight.  Then  it  swayed  dizzily 
towards  the  south,  then  tottered  towards  the  east, 
as  though  bowing  a  final  adieu,  and  at  last  took  one 
grand  plunge  into  £he  ruins  of  the  church  itself. 
A  mass  of  sparks  and  flame  swept  upwards,  then 
blackness  settled  down,  and  a  chill  fell  on  every 
heart,  for  we  realized  that  the  Old  North  Church 
was  no  more. 

"In  my  boyhood,  the  old  hand  tub  played  an 
important  part  in  our  fire  department,  and  played 


190  Wayside   Jottings 

it  well.  The  best  company  was  the  'No.  2,'  whose 
house  was  on  the  top  of  Chapel  Street,  just  in  the 
rear  of  the  Methodist  Church.  The  company  was 
a  large  one  and  comprised  a  good  part  of  the 
young,  active  men  of  the  North  End.  When  the 
alarm  bells  rang  and  the  populace  shouted  'Fire!' 
which  everyone  did  as  soon  as  he  could  get  his 
head  outside  the  door,  there  was  a  race  for  the 
No.  2  house.  The  first  to  arrive  threw  open  the 
doors,  grabbed  the  steering  handles  and,  without 
waiting  for  any  help,  started  the  machine  out  of 
the  house  and  down  the  hill.  The  old  tub  would 
rattle  down  to  Main  Street  like  a  locomotive  and 
then  the  enterprising  steersman  would  mount  the 
machine  and  ring  the  bell  on  top  till  enough  men 
arrived  to  man  the  drag-ropes  and  pull  it  to  the 
fire.  This  No.  2  Company  was  a  very  enterprising 
one,  and  there  was  great  rivalry  between  it  and 
the  other  engines.  The  one  to  get  on  the  first 
streapi  was  very  proud  of  the  fact.  It  used  to  be 
darkly  hinted  that  sometimes  the  members  of  this 
company  got  advance  news  of  fires  to  come,  but 
of  this  I  cannot  speak.  There  was  one  member  of 
this  company  who  was  my  particular  admiration. 
His  name  was  Ben  Ouillette,  a,  Frenchman,  and  in 
five  minutes  after  he  arrived  at  a  fire  he  always 
appeared  on  the  roof  and  chopped  a  hole  in  it.  It 
didn't  matter  where  the  fire  was, — in  the  cellar  or 
first  story, — there  must  be  a  hole  in  the  roof.  To 
me  no  fire  would  be  complete  without  Ben  Ouillette 
and  his  hole  in  the  roof. 


Wayside   Jottings  191 

' '  The  real  Old  North  Church  antedated  the  one  I 
have  described  by  a  great  many  years.  It  stood 
where  the  "Walker  School  now  stands,  was  built  of 
wood,  painted  white  and  was  of  rather  an  am- 
bitious style  of  architecture.  In  my  boyhood  it 
was  used  as  a  Methodist  Seminary,  and  one  of  the 
yearly  duties  incumbent  on  us  boys  was  the  horn- 
ing of  the  students  on  May  Day  morning.  Those 
students  were  muscular  Christians  and  we  were 
assailed  by  every  kind  of  a  missile,  in  a  most  un- 
Christian-like  manner,  much  to  our  delight.  They 
didn't  turn  the  other  cheek;  they  turned  the  hose 
on  us,  or  anything  they  could  lay  their  hands  on. 
This  old  building  also  went  up  in  flames  one  night 
and  the  North  End  boys  were  deprived  of  a  great 
source  of  amusement." 


XXXVI. 

There  is  nothing  more  unlike  in  the  way  of 
natural  scenery  in  the  Merrimack  valley  than  what 
pertains  to  Rattlesnake  Hill,  up  in  the  West  Con- 
cord district,  and  what  for  years  has  been  known 
as  the  "Plains,"  over  the  river.  The  former, 
rough,  rugged  and  rocky  ("rock-ribbed"  is  Bry- 
ant's characterization),  and  typical  of  the  Granite 
State;  the  other  devoid  of  picturesqueness  and 
more  prairie-like,  barring  its  pitch  pines.  Rattle- 
snake was  a  product  of  the  period  in  the  world's 
geological  history  when  it  shot  up  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  along  with  the  rest  of  New  Hamp- 


192  Wayside   Jottings 

shire  hills  and  mountains.  The  Plains  is  a  product 
of  the  glacial  or  drift  period  in  that  history,  when 
there  was  a  mighty  rush  of  waters  from  the  north- 
ern regions  bearing  along  all  kinds  of  debris  from 
the  land  of  ice  and  snow  and  materially  changing 
the  face  of  Dame  Nature. 

The  Plains  soil  formation  includes  probably  an 
area  of  three  or  more  square  miles  and  extends 
from  the  vicinity  of  Turtletown  on  the  north,  to 
the  Pembroke  line  on  the  south,  and  from  the 
bluffs  on  the  east  side  of  the  intervale,  on  the  west, 
to  the  Suncook  river  on  the  east.  It  was  known 
aforetime  as  the  "Dark  Plains."  We  say  "afore- 
time," for  quite  a  change  has  taken  place  in  the 
physical  apearance  of  this  section  of  the  city  during 
the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years.  Then  it  could  be  so 
rightly  named  on  account  of  the  dense  growth  of 
pines,  mainly  pitch  pines,  that  covered  the  land. 
The  highway  leading  from  the  top  of  the  Gully 
Hill  Road  to  the  "Break  of  Day,"  a  distance  of 
perhaps  three  miles,  was  through  these  woods,  and 
the  ride  in  a  da^rk  night  was  rather  lonesome ;  any- 
one inclined  to  be  timid  felt  like  "whistling  to 
keep  his  courage  up,"  the  same  as  when  passing 
by  the  traditional  grave  yard,  his  brain,  however, 
not  conjuring  up  visions  of  ghosts,  but  of  highway 
robbers. 

In  the  spring  or  early  summer  it  was  a  great 
section  of  the  city  for  forest  fires;  the  light  from 
them  loomed  up  grandly  in  the  night  time,  and  it 
is  quite  probable  that  every  acre  of  the  Plains  at 


Wayside   Jottings  193 

one  time  or  another  has  been  burned  over  either 
once  or  more  than  once.  These  fires  did  not  seem 
to  damage  the  pines  very  much,  as  the  flames  swept 
through  them  quickly;  they  were  a  hardy  kind  of 
a  tree,  of  an  older  growth  and  somewhat  larger 
than  we  see  standing  now,  and  could  stand  quite 
a  scorching.  Now  a  good  share  of  the  Plains  is 
cleared  land,  a  portion  laid  out  into  streets  on 
which  have  been  erected  comfortable  homes;  also 
a  fine  schoolhouse  and  a  neat  chapel  for  Sunday 
worship.  If  an  electric  line  should  ever  be  built 
through  the  eastern  part  of  the  state,  it  would 
become  an  important  suburb  of  Concord.  In  fact, 
it  is  getting  to  be  so  now  if  one  may  judge  from 
the  amount  of  suburban  news  that  is  furnished  the 
Evening  Monitor  from  week  to  week  by  its  enter- 
prising correspondent,  "Pilgrim." 

It  was,  as  we  understand,  some  time  in  the 
fifties  that  Thomas  B.  Tamblyn  erected  the  first 
dwelling  house  on  the  left  side  of  the  road  at  the 
top  of  Gully  Hill,  and  which  is  still  standing. 
Afterwards,  in  the  same  decade,  the  Merrimack 
County  Agricultural  Society  cleared  a  small  tract 
of  land  and  erected  some  buildings  and  cattle  pens 
and  there  held  the  annual  fairs  for  a  few  years. 
When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  these  buildings  and 
the  fair  ground  were  taken  by  the  state  for  a  camp. 
More  buildings  were  erected,  and  a  majority  of 
the  regiments  that  went  to  the  front  from  our  state 
were  mustered  into  the  service  and  drilled  here, 
and  thousands  of  soldiers  marched  out  of  \he  camp 

13 


194  Wayside   Jottings 

ground  and  down  Main  Street  and  took  the  trains 
for  the  seat  of  war,  and  many  of  them  never  came 
back.  When  the  writer  rides  through  the  ' '  Gully ' ' 
— which  Nature  laid  out  for  a  highway — he  misses 
the  fine  growth  of  pines  that  lined  both  sides  of 
the  picturesque  road.  The  woodman's  axe  and 
the  steam  sawmill  got  in  their  deadly  work  and 
the  result  is  seen  in  the  denuded  hillsides.  Per- 
haps in  times  there  may  be  a  new  growth  of  pines. 

Geologists  tell  us  that  the  soils  found  in  the 
Merrimack  valley  come  under  the  class  known  as 
"transported  soils"  and  are  of  glacial  origin. 
During  the  period  termed  the  "Glacial  Epoch," 
all  of  New  Hampshire  was  covered  by  a  moving 
ice  sheet  of  great  thickness.  This  moving  mass,  by 
crushing  and  grinding  the  rock  material,  rounded 
off  the  tops  of  the  hills  and  ridges,  and  filled  in  the 
valleys  with  this  transported  material.  As  the  ice 
melted  it  left  on  this  surface  an  unstratified  mass 
of  fine  and  coarse  material  and  this  formed  the 
soil.  At  the  close  of  the  "Glacial  Epoch,"  the 
land  is  believed  to  have  subsided,  a  change  to  a 
warmer  climate  also  taking  place.  During  this 
epoch  the  Merrimack  valley  was  filled  up  as  high 
as  the  highest  terraces  by  materials  carried  by 
streams  issuing  from  the  glacial  ice  front. 

Geologists  also  tell  us  that  the  most  extensive 
area  of  sand  plains  occurs  along  the  Merrimack 
and  some  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  it.  The  largest 
area  is  the  sand  plain  across  the  river  in  Concord. 
Other  areas  occur  along  the  lower  course  of  the 


Wayside  Jottings  195 

Contoocook  and  also  along  the  Warner  and  Black- 
water  Rivers.  Along  the  Merrimack  it  occupies 
high,  broad,  flat  terraces,  which  are  one  hundred 
feet  or  more  above  the  river,  while  along  the  Con- 
toocook and  the  other  streams  it  occupies  tracts  but 
a  few  feet  above  the  stream.  Its  area  is  generally 
marked  by  the  predominance  of  pitch  pine,  which 
is  not,  as  a  rule,  very  large,  and  sometimes  by 
scrub  oak.  When  such  land  is  burned  over,  blue- 
berries readily  grow.  From  the  nature  of  the  soil 
it  can  only  support  a  scant  vegetation,  although  by 
the  application  of  fertilizers,  truck  farming  can 
be  carried  on  with  fair  success. 

Scattered  all  over  the  farms  in  the  Merrimack 
valley  are  also  natural  curiosities  in  the  shape  of 
boulders,  large  and  small,  that,  as  we  understand, 
are  the  product  of  this  glacial  or  drift  period  to 
which  we  have  referred.  There  is  a  famous  one 
on  the  Garrison  farm  in  Hopkinton,  the  pleasant 
summer  home  of  Gen.  Harry  H.  Dudley  of  this 
city.  It  is  a  huge  rock,  measuring  probably  at 
least  fifteen  feet  in  height,  seventy-five  feet  in  cir- 
cumference, and  weighing  many  hundred  tons.  A 
summer  house  has  been  erected  on  its  top,  and  a 
flight  of  stairs  built  to  get  to  it.  A  mammoth 
grape  vine  almost  encircles  it.  Probably  this 
boulder  was  embedded  in  a  glacier  in  the  Arctic 
regions  and  drifted  down  to  the  spot  where  it 
stranded.  There  must  have  been  a  mighty  Titanic 
force  that  carried  it  along,  and  it  is  a  striking 


196  Wayside   Jottings 

object  lesson  of  the  epoch  in  which  our  world  was 
being  formed. 

Perhaps  this  sketch  of  the  Plains  would  be  in- 
complete without  some  reference  to  the  state  camp 
ground  that  forms  an  important  feature  of  this 
section  of  Concord's  suburbs.  Nature  must  have 
formed  this  ground  for  the  express  purpose  of  the 
annual  encampment  of  the  soldier  boys.  As  "the 
field  of  Mars"  it  could  not  be  excelled.  All  that 
is  needed  is  a  trolley  line  to  it,  the  same  as  to  the 
state  fair  ground  out  on  Clinton  Street.  Whether 
it  would  pay  to  build  it  is  another  question. 

XXXVII. 

Two  prominent  thoughts  have  come  to  the  mind 
of  the  writer,  in  concluding  these  local  sketches 
that  have  appeared  at  intervals  of  time  for  the  past 
two  and  a  half  years  in  the  Monitor  and  Patriot. 

One  is,  that  if  Concord,  like  Washington,  is  not 
a. city  of  "magnificent  distances"  it  might  be  said 
of  it  that  it  is  a  city  of  respectable  distances.  At 
least,  the  writer  thought  so  when  a  few  years  ago, 
in  company  with  the  city  engineer,  he  perambu- 
lated the  boundary  line  on  the  north  between  the 
towns  of  Webster,  Boscawen  and  Canterbury,  and 
on  the  east  and  south,  between  the  towns  of  Loudon 
and  Pembroke.  Its  length,  north  and  south,  is 
about  nine  miles,  and  its  breadth,  east  and  west, 
is  about  eight  miles,  while  its  area,  according  to 
Mr.  Walker's  figures,  as  given  in  the  "History  of 


Wayside  Jottings  197 

Concord,"  is  39,050  acres,  of  which  2,000  acres  are 
covered  with  water.  Of  the  soil  composing  the 
area  of  dry  land,  he  says  that  "something  more 
than  one-half  is  suitable  for  tillage,  while  the  re- 
mainder, being  too  rough  for  the  plough,  is  well 
adapted  to  grazing  and  the  production  of  wood 
and  timber. ' '  And  we  might  remark,  let  the  ' '  pro- 
duction of  wood  and  timber"  go  on,  without  any 
hindrance;  the  coming  generations  will  need  them 
badly.  "Here  and  there,"  he  says,  "undeveloped 
rock  protrudes  above  the  surface,  and  supplies  the 
material  for  one  of  Concord's  chief  industries. 
Millions  on  millions  of  cubic  yards  of  the  choicest 
granite  have  been  taken  from  old  Rattlesnake,  and 
millions  on  millions  more  await  the  quarryman's 
drill."  While  New  Hampshire  has  been  appropri- 
ately named  the  "Granite  State,"  Concord  might 
well  be  named  the  "Granite  City."  Fifty  feet 
below  the  surface  in  the  compact  part  of  the  town 
the  artesian  drill  struck  a  rocky  foundation,  which 
reaches  to  a  depth  of  something  over  twelve  hun- 
dred feet;  how  much  further  it  extends  in  the 
direction  of  the  earth's  center,  no  one  is  supposed 
to  know. 

The  other  thought,  and  perhaps  the  more  im- 
portant one,  is  that  while  the  description  of  ancient 
Zion  as  "beautiful  for  situation  and  the  joy  of  the 
whole  earth,"  might  seem  rather  extravagant  to 
apply  to  a  rural  city  whose  inhabitants  for  nearly 
five  months  in  the  year  have  to  encounter  the  rigors 
of  our  New  Hampshire  winters  and  springs,  yet 


198  Wayside   Jottings 

it  might  be  claimed  by  them  that  on  the  whole 
' '  our  lines  have  fallen  to  us  in  pleasant  places,  yea 
we  have  a  goodly  heritage."  And  the  question  is 
a  pertinent  one:  If  we  have  "a  goodly  heritage," 
what  is  it  that  has  made  it  so,  or,  in  other  words, 
what  are  the  forces  that  have  been  at  work  in  the 
something  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty 
years  of  its  history,  to  build  up  a  community  that 
is  worth  living  in  ? 

The  seal  of  the  city  bears  upon  its  face  the 
legend,  "Law,  Education,  Religion."  The  founda- 
tion of  any  civilized  community  rests  primarily 
upon  the  respect  and  the  observance  of  law.  If 
all  communities  were  perfectly  law  abiding,  there 
would  be  no  need  of  houses  of  correction,  jails, 
prisons,  or  even  a  police  force.  But  there  come 
times  of  excitement  when  the  lawless  element  for 
the  time  being  prevails  and  manifests  itself  in 
deeds  of  violence,  which  all  good  citizens  regret 
and  condemn.  This  was  seen  on  two  occasions  in 
Concord's  history:  First,  in  the  year  1837,  when 
George  Thompson  and  John  G.  Whittier  were 
mobbed  and  forced  to  leave  town  by  stealth;  it 
was  seen  again  in  the  year  1861,  when  the  Demo- 
cratic Standard  office  was  raided  and  its  contents 
destroyed.  No  reputable  citizen,  it  is  safe  to 
affirm,  was  engaged  in  the  first  riot;  but  only 
"certain  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort";  and  in 
the  latter  case,  a  party  of  returned  soldiers  of  the 
First  Regiment  of  Volunteers,  none  of  whom  were 
citizens  of  Concord,  under  great  provocation,  were 


Wayside  Jottings  199 

the  chief  offenders.  No  lives  were  sacrificed  in 
either  case,  and  the  city,  in  the  case  of  the  Stand- 
ard riot,  eventually  paid  the  damage.  This  affair 
took  place  in  the  third  story  of  Low's  block,  now 
the  Woodward  block,  which  stands  on  the  east  side 
of  North  Main  Street.  Nothing  to  commemorate 
the  event  that  we  are  aware  of  has  ever  been  erect- 
ed, but  if  a  tablet  should  be  placed  on  the  front 
of  this  block,  it  might  appropriately  bear  tfiis  in- 
scription : 

Here  the  embattled  Palmers  stood 

And  fired  the  shot  heard  'round  the  town. 

With  these  exceptions,  which  only  prove  the 
rule,  the  writer  is  warranted  in  affirming  that  in 
the  years  of  its  history,  Concord  has  been  a  law- 
abiding  community,  where  one  "could  sit  under 
his  own  vine  and  fig  tree,  with  none  to  molest  or 
make  afraid." 

"Education"  is  the  next  legend  on  the  seal  of 
the  city.  During  the  first  years  of  the  settlement 
of  the  town,  when  it  was  known  as  the  "Planta- 
tion of  Penacook, ' '  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  pro- 
prietors was  to  make  an  appropriation  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  school.  To  be  sure,  it  was  a  small  sum, 
about  fifteen  dollars,  but  all  that  was  needed  at 
that  time,  for  it  was  "a  day  of  small  things"  in 
the  settlement.  It  was  held  in  a  log  house,  with 
James  Scales  as  teacher,  and  the  curriculum  con- 
sisted of  the  three  R's,  "Reading,  'Kiting  and 
'Rithmetic. "  From  that  time,  the  school  system 


200  Wayside   Jottings 

of  the  town  has  been  in  a  process  of  evolution  till 
now  the  school  houses  and  teachers  have  greatly 
increased  in  numbers,  and  appropriations  for 
schools  in  the  year  1908  amounted  to  the  sum  of 
$112,687.92. 

The  third  legend  on  the  seal  is  ' '  Religion. ' '  The 
first  settlers  were  religious  men  and  women.  This 
was  seen  in  the  first  Sabbath  service  that  was  held, 
under  the  canopy  of  Heaven,  on  the  intervale  near 
Sugar  Ball,  in  charge  of  Rev.  Enoch  Coffin,  after 
their  arrival.  It  was  afterwards  seen  when  the 
log  church  was  erected,  to  which  both  minister  and 
people  went  armed  to  repel  an  attack  from  the 
Indians.  It  was  seen  in  the  erection  of  the  Old 
North  Church,  where  for  a  series  of  years  all  the 
people  of  the  town  united  in  worship  on  the  Sab- 
bath. It  was  also  manifested  in  after  years,  in 
the  diversity  of  religious  belief,  which  found  ex- 
pression in  the  erection,  in  various  parts  of  the 
town,  of  churches,  of  the  Protestant  and  Catholic 
forms  of  belief,  where  all  who  desired  to  do  so 
could  meet  and  worship  their  Creator  according  to 
the  dictates  of  their  consciences.  At  the  same 
time,  there  has  been  a  succession  of  faithful  min- 
isters and  priests,  who  have  labored  earnestly  for 
the  promotion  of  a  religious  sentiment  that  should 
go  hand  in  hand  with  law  and  education,  in  order 
to  attain  the  best  results  in  good  citizenship. 

Sometimes  one  would  like  to  forecast-the  future, 
and  learn  what  of  good  or  ill  is  in  store  for  our 
rural  city,  standing  on  the  banks  of  the  Merri- 


Wayside  Jottings  201 

mack.  Its  material  growth  has  been  gradual,  but 
steady.  Those  who  have  been  residents  here  for 
even  fifty  years  can  go  back  in  memory  and  con- 
trast the  appearance  of  the  place,  especially  the 
business  part  of  it,  with  what  it  was  in  the  fifties. 
In  the  census  of  1850,  the  population  was  8,576; 
in  the  census  of  1900  it  was  19,632,  a  gain  of 
11,056.  Will  the  census  of  1950  show  a  population 
of  40,000?  If  so,  its  expansion  in  population  and 
in  other  ways  will  probably  be  in  the  direction  of 
the  South  End  or  on  the  Plains,  where  there  is 
much  land  to  be  possessed  and  occupied.  But 
whatever  may  be  its  progress,  it  will  no  doubt  sus- 
tain its  reputation  for  comfortable  homes,  in  which 
law-abiding  citizens  will  be  found.  And  with  this 
number  of  the  "Wayside  Jottings,"  thanking  the 
men  and  women  of  our  city  who  have  given  the 
writer  their  words  of  appreciation  and  encourage- 
ment, he  concludes  these  local  sketches  of  Concord 
and  its  suburbs. 


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C7C77 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

"   III!  Mill  Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


A  001337484  8 


